US Secretary of state, Antony Blinken has stated that 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been agreed.
He insisted that progress on negotiations had been made during the last few weeks, despite there being no respite in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, or any sign of the impending release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
Speaking at a news conference with Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, Blinken said that an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was “less a question of substance and more a question of political will.”
On his part, Abdelatty noted that the absence of political will “on one particular side” was keeping the negotiations from moving forward.
He disclosed that Hamas has confirmed to Egypt its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement that was agreed on 27 May and to the amendments made on 2 July.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed that Cairo will not accept any changes to pre-October 7 rules for security on its border with Gaza, including at the Philadelphi Corridor, and the operation of the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side.
Abdelatty also stated that Egypt is in full solidarity with Lebanon following yesterday’s pager explosions attack, considering the incident an affront to Lebanese sovereignty.
“Ending Israel’s aggression on Gaza through a ceasefire is paramount to de-escalating tensions in the region,” the Minister said.
US Still Gathering Facts About Lebanon Pager Explosions
Also at the press conference, U.S Secretary of state, Antony Blinken said that the US did not know about the pager explosions in Lebanon in advance and said that his country was still gathering the facts about the blasts.
Blinken cautioned everyone in the region to avoid taking steps that could escalate the conflict.
Commenting on the simultaneous explosion of pagers in Lebanon, both leaders stressed that all parties should refrain from actions that could spiral tensions into a broader conflict and that a ceasefire in Gaza was necessary to defuse tensions in the region.
Yesterday nearly 3,000 people were injured and 12 killed, including two children, by the detonation of pagers inside Lebanon. The attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel.
Israel has not claimed responsibility, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government seldom comments on Israeli operations carried out outside its borders.
Lebanon’s state national news agency reported that according to health ministry statistics among the near 3,000 people injured after the pager detonations yesterday, 1,800 people were hospitalised, and 460 required surgery for severe injuries.
Caretake Health Minister, Firas Abiad said that while some patients are being evacuated to Syria and potentially Iran, 92% of cases will be treated within Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Minister of information, Ziad Makary said that the country is preparing to take a complaint to the UN security council over the mass detonation of pagers yesterday which killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 others.
Although there has been no official statement of responsibility, the attack has been widely attributed to Israel.
Ziad Makary described the explosions as “a blatant attack on the Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
“What we fear is not Hezbollah, but Israel’s criminality, whether in Gaza or Lebanon. Lebanon is preparing a complaint to submit to the UN security council, and the ambassadors of certain states concerned with this never-ending conflict between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy will be summoned.
“The enemy does not care about anybody, not even about the constant and public US pressures.”
Ziad Makary
“US diplomacy must intensify its pressures on Israel before it does on Hezbollah and Lebanon,” she added.
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