Israel's unrelenting offensive against Hamas battled on into its fifth week with no sign of slowing Saturday, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Arab foreign ministers in search of a diplomatic opening to ease the crisis.
Washington's top envoy arrived in Jordan for talks with five of his counterparts one day after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed his call for a"humanitarian pause" to allow aid into Gaza.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, says more than 9,200 Gazans, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign. Overnight, Israeli ground forces launched"a targeted raid" to map tunnels and clear explosive traps in southern Gaza, where it has struck before but rarely sent in troops, the military said.
A key focus of his Blinken's Israel visit on Friday was to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enact"humanitarian pauses", which the United States believes could help secure the release of roughly 240 hostages thought to be in Hamas captivity, and to allow aid to be distributed to Gaza's beleaguered population.
The Red Crescent said a convoy of five vehicles had been destined for the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, when they were struck multiple times.World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was"utterly shocked" by the strike. He is also scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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