Israel's Netanyahu 'ready for ceasefire,' US adviser says

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has visited Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a bid to support the newly-revived efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

After the meeting, Sullivan said he "got the sense" that the Israeli leader was "ready to do a deal" which would secure a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, while also securing the release of the 100 hostages still held by the group after being abducted to the Strip during the attacks on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

"My goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month," Sullivan said at a press conference in Tel Aviv.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,805 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians. That's according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

Gaza attacks continue

The Hamas-led authorities in Gaza said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 33 people, including 12 guards securing aid trucks, white the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted militants planning to hijack the vehicles.

The United Nations and other aid agencies have repeatedly warned about the acute humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip after 14 months of war.

UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge told journalists visiting Nuseirat in central Gaza that the conditions for people in the Strip are "appalling and apocalyptic."

Israel also carried out an attack in southern Lebanon.The IDF said it had targeted Hezbollah militants whose presence in the area had formed a violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

IDF attacks targets in Syria

Elsewhere, Israel continues to operate in Syria after the fall of the Assadregime.

IDF troops are still present in the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated the 1974 armistice.

During a visit to Jordan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel was concerned about any power vacuum that could be filled by extremists, but that Washington was speaking to the Israelis about the way ahead.

"It's really important at this time that we all try to make sure we're not sparking any additional conflicts," Blinken said.

On Monday, Israel said it had struck "remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets in order that they will not fall in the hands of extremists."

The director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias Gonzalez, said his group was "following closely" reports of strikes on military facilities.

 "We do not know yet whether these strikes have affected chemical weapon-related sites. Such airstrikes could create a risk of contamination," he said in a speech.

ftm/jcg (AFP, AP, Reuters)