Arab Countries Demand Ceasefire In Gaza As US Warns It Would Help Hamas

Arab countries have demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but the US warns this would allow Hamas to regroup

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met leaders from Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan in Amman – as he pushed for humanitarian pauses in the fighting

But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no temporary ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza until all Israeli hostages are released.

Earlier, a US envoy said 350,000-400,000 people remain in northern Gaza, which Israel has warned civilians to leave

The Israeli military is also carrying out strikes in the south and the UN says no part of Gaza is safe.

Mark Regev, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has told the UK’s Channel 4 news that Israel believes that Hamas has “established its command and control” centre under the Al-Shifa hospital.

Regev goes on to say that if a combatant builds such a construction under civilian infrastructure it could become a “legitimate target”.

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Israel has previously claimed that Hamas is using the population in Gaza as human shields by placing part of its military system under civilian infrastructure.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said at least 13 people have been killed in a blast outside that hospital – Gaza City’s biggest.

The Israeli military has confirmed it struck an ambulance that it says was being used by Hamas operatives. It did not say where the air strike took place.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for all sides to work together to “stop a catastrophe that will haunt the region for generations”.

He made the call during his joint news conference in Amman with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

He said: “I think we need to remind each other of our humanity. I think we need to accept that killing more people will not bring [back] those who are lost on both sides, as tragic as the loss is.

“I think we need to all emphasise that everything we can do to save one more life is imperative upon all of us.”

He added: “As human beings, we just cannot accept to see all that killing unfolding, to see all that reduction of life…How can we justify to anybody that killing 9,000 people, killing 3,700 children, destroying 150,000 houses, destroying hospitals – how can we justify that this is self-defence?”

Safadi warned that the war “is going to push us all again into the abyss of hatred and dehumanisation that will make killing even more acceptable. That needs to stop.” (BBC)