During a telephone conversation between the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and the head of Israeli Defense, Yoav Gallant, the situation in the Gaza Strip was discussed, “the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the hostages” and the objective common goal of defeating the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, the State Department said in a statement.
However, the US Secretary of State reaffirmed the “United States’ opposition to a major ground military operation” in the southern area of Rafah.
Blinken stressed the need to “protect civilians and aid workers” in the Gaza Strip and urged Gallant to ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach the enclave and be distributed as Israel pursues Hamas.
With the death toll in Gaza surpassing 35,000, the situation in the city of Rafah, which has become the last refuge for the Strip’s inhabitants, is becoming increasingly critical after the army imposed this weekend new forced displacements of a population that has nowhere to go.
“The exodus continues. The Israeli authorities are forcing the population of Rafah to flee anywhere. Claims about safe zones are false and misleading. There is no safe place in Gaza”, reported on Sunday the commissioner of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel continues to keep the Rafah crossing closed, crucial for the entry of humanitarian aid and through which chronically ill and injured people leave for treatment, although on Monday it announced the opening of a new crossing in the north of the Strip.
*With Lusa
