Fears for hostages

Will there be a ceasefire? US Secretary of State travels to the Middle East

These pictures show hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the attacks on October 7.

(Bild: APA/AFP/David GANNON)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is travelling to the region this week in an effort to bring about a ceasefire in the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to provide more humanitarian aid. In addition, the Israeli army says it has killed more than 40 fighters from the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and arrested more than 200 terror suspects during the operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

US Secretary Blinken will hold talks with Saudi Arabian representatives in Jeddah on Wednesday before traveling to Cairo on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced on Tuesday. Talks with government representatives are also planned in Cairo.

Secretary of State Blinken will negotiate an "agreement on an immediate ceasefire" that "ensures the release of all remaining hostages" - and on "intensified international efforts" for more humanitarian aid for the people in the Gaza Strip.

According to his spokesman Miller, the talks will also focus on "planning for the post-conflict period", "including ensuring that Hamas can no longer rule or repeat the attacks of October 7". In addition, it should also be about a "political path for the Palestinian people with security guarantees for Israel and an architecture for lasting peace and security in the region".

Starving Palestinians queue for free meals in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Alongside Qatar, the USA and Egypt are important mediators in the war between Israel and Hamas. Negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages have been going on for weeks. A proposal for a six-week ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners is apparently currently on the table.

Israel killed more than 40 Hamas fighters
According to the Israeli army, it killed more than 40 fighters of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and arrested more than 200 terror suspects during the operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. These figures were announced by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari on Monday evening. More than 20 terrorists were killed during the night operation in the hospital area, including Faiq al-Mabhouh, head of a Hamas internal security department.

Another more than 20 Hamas militants were eliminated in the vicinity of the hospital in the northern coastal city of Gaza, Hagari said. The information provided by the Israeli military could not initially be independently verified.

Hamas initially gave no official confirmation of the death of Al-Mabhouh. The terrorist organization continues to fight systematically from hospitals and civilian facilities and uses civilians and patients as human shields, the Israeli army spokesman added. It had tried to rebuild its base in the Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, and to use it as a refuge for fleeing terrorists. "We will not allow this and will strike wherever Hamas tries to regain control," said the army spokesman.

Background
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by Hamas' major attack on Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli figures, around 1160 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel has taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 31,700 people have been killed so far.