All the latest developments on the Israel-Hamas war and the conflict in the Middle East.
ADVERTISEMENTIsraeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed dozens of people on Monday, including two children aged twelve and two.
The Israeli army said its armed forces were fighting Hamas militants who remain in northern and central Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is run by the Hamas militant group, said on Sunday that 113 bodies had been brought to hospitals in the space of 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 27,478 people.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of those killed were women and children.
It followed a day of deadly Israeli strikes on the town of Deir al-Balah on Sunday.
Israel has kept up its aerial bombardment of Gaza while resisting international calls for a ceasefire.
US continues diplomatic efforts
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for his fifth visit to the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza erupted in October.
The State Department says Blinken will also travel to Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank for talks with regional leaders that will last for most of the week.
Blinken’s latest trip comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity and discussions over a new possible deal for a pause in Israeli military operations in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
But the trip also comes as fears have grown in recent days for the possible escalation of the conflict with continued attacks on US personnel and bases in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, as well as stepped-up military strikes against commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Stéphane Séjourné travels to Egypt
France’s recently appointed foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné used his first visit to Israel on Monday to call for an «immediate ceasefire» and a «massive influx» of humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza, as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Speaking later at a news conference, Séjourné said it was France’s role as a «friend» to tell Israeli leaders some truths they «may have difficulties hearing.»
«For four months now, the people of Gaza have been living under bombs and an almost full siege. They are being deprived of the minimum aid they need to treat their wounds, protect against epidemics and feed themselves,» Séjourné said.
France was one of the EU member states to vote in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza at the UN General Assembly in December. But the 27-country bloc has not been able to agree on an unanimous call for a cease in hostilities.
On Sunday, Séjourné also met his Egyptian counterpart in the New Administrative Capital.
In a news conference after the meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry warned of a wider conflict in the region if a ceasefire was not reached in Gaza.
«The war in Gaza, the threats we are seeing towards the navigation in the Red Sea, the military operations that took place in Syria and Iraq as well as the military situation on the Israeli-Lebanese borders, all warns from the escalation of the situation and slipping towards a wider conflict,» Shoukry said.
The European Union on Saturday expressed deep concern over reports that the Israeli military intends to take its battle against Hamas to the town of Rafah at Gaza’s border with Egypt where more than a million people have escaped the fighting.
ADVERTISEMENTSuch an offensive could push the refugees into Egypt, undermining Israel’s peace agreement with the country and angering the United States.
