THE war between the Israel and the Hamas Now in its fourth month, there is no sign that the guns will stop in the Gaza Strip, as the US secretary of state called on the Israeli military, which continues its deadly airstrikes, to do more to protect the civilians, and warned against the threatened spread of the conflict.

Israel’s civil-military leadership has vowed to “eliminate” Hamas after its unprecedented attack on southern sectors of Israeli territory on October 7, when some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Since then, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 22,835 people, the vast majority of them women and children, according to the latest tally from the Hamas Health Ministry, which was released on Sunday. In other words, about 1% of the population of the Palestinian enclave. The shelling has destroyed entire districts, displacing 85% of the population and causing a massive humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

Warnings of wider conflict from Blinken – Netanyahu unmoved

In tour in the area, the Wednesday respectively since October 7, the head of American diplomacy Anthony Blinken ruled yesterday that it is “imperative” that Israel, supported militarily and politically by the US, does more to protect the civilians in the Gaza Strip, during a press conference in Doha, with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdelrahman al Thani, by his side.

“It can easily exist metastasis of this one warwhich will cause even more insecurity and more suffering“, he warned, assuring that the US government is working to “prevent the conflict from spreading” in the region.

He also described as an “unthinkable tragedy” the death in the Gaza Strip yesterday morning of two other Palestinian journalists, Mustafa Thuraya, a cameraman who worked with various media outlets, including AFP, and Hamza Wael Dakhtouh of al-Jazeera.

Defying international pressure and calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to demonstrate his determination once again yesterday Sunday, declaring that “what happened on October 7 will never happen again” and taking an oath that “we will continue until the ultimate victory».

At the same time, “negotiations between Qatari, Israeli and Hamas officials on the release of the hostages in Gaza are continuing, a well-informed source told AFP on the sidelines of Mr Blinken’s visit to Doha.

Need to increase “humanitarian aid” –

Mr Blinken previously met in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

According to a press release from the court of the Hashemite monarchy, the Jordanian king called for pressure to be put on Israel for an “immediate ceasefire”.

He also emphasized Jordan’s “complete rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians”, following statements by Israeli ministers advocating the return of Jewish settlers to Gaza and encouraging its residents to “immigrate”, which were condemned by Washington.

Visiting a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) center in Jordan, the US Secretary of State also emphasized that it is “imperative” to increase “humanitarian aid” reaching the Gaza Strip.

He continues his tour as violence has escalated since Saturday on the Israel/Lebanon border, where since October 8, the day after the bloody attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked this war, there have been practically daily exchanges of fire between the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

The pro-Iranian Shiite movement fired 62 rockets at a military base in northern Israel on Saturday, an attack it described as “preliminary retaliation” for the death last Tuesday in an airstrike attributed to Israel of Hamas’ number two, Saleh al-Aruri, in southern suburb of Beirut. He then announced the death of five of his fighters in Israeli strikes.

In Syria and Iraq, attacks against US military bases have increased by leaps and bounds since October 17, while in Yemen the Houthi rebels, also allies of Iran, have in recent weeks increased their drone and missile strikes against merchant ships in the Red Sea. in “support” for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.