Ramallah, 5 November 2023 (WAI): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during a meeting with senior US diplomat Antony Blinken on Sunday, requested a quick Israeli ceasefire as the Gaza health ministry reported scores of deaths in an overnight strike on a refugee camp.
Blinken, who has consistently criticized the concept of an Israeli ceasefire for concern that it would aid Hamas, was making an unannounced visit to the occupied West Bank as part of an effort to keep the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading in the region.
His journey to Ramallah occurred as Palestinians combed through debris for casualties or victims inside the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza.
“All night, I and other men were picking the dead from the rubble.” “We had children dismembered, flesh torn apart,” said Saeed al-Nejma, 53, adding that he had been sleeping with his family in their single-story house when the blow came.
According to a spokeswoman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, the Israeli force hit the camp overnight, killing at least 47 Palestinians.
In an additional incident, Israeli attacks on Gaza overnight killed 21 Palestinians from one family, involving women and children, according to the health ministry.
“We urge you to take steps to stop them from committing these atrocities instantly,” Abbas said to Blinken, requesting an “immediate ceasefire” from Israel.
“There aren’t any words that can adequately describe the war of genocide and carnage that our Palestinian people are subjected to in Gaza at the whim of Israeli war technology, regardless of the rules of international law,” Abbas told Blinken, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Also Read: Gaza’s grave humanitarian predicament demands immediate response.
On Saturday, Foreign Ministers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates met with Blinken in Amman. They urged Washington to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
Blinken, on the other hand, has stated that a truce would assist Hamas by allowing it to recover and attack again. Instead, the US is advocating for limited ceasefires to allow humanitarian goods and civilians to escape the densely populated Gaza Strip.
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