US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday about the war in Gaza and ensuring that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 is never repeated, senior officials said.
Sullivan will discuss “ongoing efforts to revamp and revitalize” the Palestinian Authority and reining in “extremist settler violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, said one of the officials, who declined to be named.
Here are the top 10 updates on the Israel-Hamas war,
1) The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, in an interview on Thursday said the Biden administration must now “walk the walk” and take specific steps toward what has been an elusive two-state solution, including by applying pressure on Israel, AP reported.
2) This came after the United States shielded Israel against growing international calls for an immediate cease-fire, but is publicly disagreeing with its close ally on a post-war scenario.
3) “We are continuing until the end, there is no question. I say this even given the great pain and the international pressure. Nothing will stop us,” said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
4) Heavy fighting has raged for days in Shijaiyah and other areas in and around eastern Gaza City that were encircled earlier in the war. Tens of thousands of people remain in the north despite repeated evacuation orders, saying they don’t feel that anywhere in Gaza is safe or fear they may never return to their homes.
5) More than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. Israel said 113 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.
6) On Thursday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan talked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and other senior Israeli officials on Thursday spent time discussing the “phasing” of Israel’s operations, as per AP reports.
7) The talks also covered the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the ongoing threat of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea coming from Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the posture of Iranian proxy groups throughout the region.
8) An intelligence report by the United States has revealed that more than half the bombs dropped were ‘dumb bombs’ or untargeted, not precise bombs.
9) The revelation by the US intelligence reports might bring into perspective the overwhelming death toll in Gaza, which includes a larger proportion of civilians.
10) The assessment, compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says that about 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel has used have been unguided. The rest have been precision-guided munitions, the assessment says.
(With inputs from agencies)
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