By Athena Papakosta

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited the West Bank on Sunday where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the Gaza Strip came under renewed heavy shelling from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and succumbed to the third in a row of communications blackouts. Earlier, the Al Maghazi refugee camp was bombed, killing at least 40 people. According to the IDF, the Israeli army, at the time of the bombing, was searching for Hamas gunmen operating in the area.

The Blinken Diplomatic Marathon

Blinken’s trip to Ramallah took place on day 3 of his new tour, which is part of the United States’ urgent diplomatic effort to prevent proliferation of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East region.

Spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas immediately after the conclusion of the meeting of the President of the Palestinian Authority with the Secretary of State of the United States, he emphasized that an immediate cease-fire and an urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza were requested from Washington. In addition, he made it clear that the Palestinian Authority could take power in the Gaza Strip but only as part of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For his part, the representative of the US Department of State, Matthew Miller, stressed that Blinken reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to the delivery of humanitarian aid and the continuation of basic services while making it clear that the Palestinians should not be displaced. As it became known, the two men also discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, stressing the need to end Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

After West Bank, US top diplomat makes surprise visit to Baghdadwhere he spoke with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

After all, approximately 2,500 American soldiers remain deployed in Iraq and since October 7, US forces have come under repeated attack. Iraq’s prime minister condemned the attacks, with Anthony Blinken reiterating that Washington would take any measure necessary to protect the American people.

Earlier, the American Foreign Minister had also met with the foreign ministers of five Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Egypt). Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, emphasized that all Arab countries want an immediate ceasefire, stressing that “the region is sinking into a sea of ​​hatred that will mark the next generations.” However, Mr. Blinken reiterated that “a cease-fire, now, would simply allow Hamas to regroup” and advocated humanitarian pauses which he described as important as, as he explained, they would allow the distribution of much-needed aid inside Gaza. the exit from it of those who have dual citizenship and “for Israel to achieve its goal, namely the crushing of Hamas”.

IDF: Hamas tunnel network under Gaza hospitals

At the same time, the removal of civilians and seriously injured Palestinians from Gaza had been suspended since Saturday, according to Egyptian sources, following the IDF strike on ambulances near the entrance to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa. As the Israeli military claimed, Hamas was using one of the hospital’s ambulances to transport its gunmen.

In his new statements on Sunday, the representative of the IDF, Daniel Hagari, has again accused Hamas of using medical facilities in the Gaza Strip for its own purposes and has even released videos citing Israeli intelligence and intelligence that show an underground entrance at Sheikh Hamad Hospital allegedly connected to the underground network of Hamas tunnels or gunmen of the organization opening fire on the IDF from the hospital itself.

During his remarks, he also talked about the Indonesian Hospital, claiming that there is also a Hamas tunnel network underground, raising fears that perhaps this could be the next target of the Israeli army.

Calls for humanitarian pauses – ‘No’ from Israel

The exorbitant death toll in Gaza – now approaching 10,000 – has sparked international anger and outrage with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets of cities from Washington to Berlin demanding a ceasefire.

Israel, however, categorically rejects such a possibility and turns its back on even the prospect of a brief cessation of hostilities for humanitarian reasons. In particular, the country’s Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallad, responds that “anyone who is in Gaza City is putting his life at risk”, while the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, remains adamant and makes it clear that “there will be no truce without the return of the our hostages”.

According to the latest announcements by the Israeli Defense Forces, by Sunday night, Gaza City was now surrounded and the Israeli army is poised to invade within the next 48 hours.

As their representative explained, the Gaza Strip remains cut off in the north and south while still allowing the existence of a corridor for the movement of the civilian population to the south. However, at the time of the announcements a new savage hammering of the Palestinian enclave was underway which remains without electricity and without sufficient food and medicine while, for the third time, civilians were left without the possibility of accessing the Internet and without a telecommunications network.