Israel strikes Gaza as Blinken lands in Tel Aviv in bid to help close ceasefire deal

Israeli delegation to travel to Cairo on Sunday for further talks; US Secretary of State Blinken expected to meet Netanyahu on Monday

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A Palestinian man carries children wounded in an Israeli strike at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:52pm, 18 Aug 2024Updated: 6:42am, 19 Aug 2024

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 28 people overnight and into Sunday, including young quintuplets, local health officials said, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv to try to seal a ceasefire deal after months of negotiations.

In his ninth trip to the region since war began in October, the top US diplomat on Monday will meet senior Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a senior State Department official.

After Israel, Blinken will continue on to Egypt as part of his Middle East tour

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

The US and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar said they were closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha, with American and Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas has signalled resistance to what it called new demands by Israel.

The Palestinian militant group said it holds Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for “thwarting the mediators’ efforts”, delaying an agreement and exposing Israeli hostages in Gaza to the same aggression faced by Palestinians.

The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its October 7 attack, which triggered the deadliest war fought between Israelis and Palestinians. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.

The war has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, displaced the vast majority of the territory’s 2.3 million residents and led experts to warn of famine and the outbreak of diseases like polio.