Blinken announces additional US aid of $135 million for Palestinians

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Blinken announces additional US aid of $135 million for Palestinians

In a final diplomatic move aimed at ending conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that negotiators would meet “in the coming days”. He also announced an additional $135 million in U.S. aid for Palestinian civilians.

“Talking about negotiators meeting again, that was specifically referring to negotiations on the return of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, and that’s what their work is all about. Added to this is the work that we are doing, also very intensively, on Lebanon to reach a diplomatic resolution,” Blinken said at a press conference in Doha alongside the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The United States is in discussions with its regional counterparts on a plan that would allow Israel to withdraw from Gaza, ensure that Hamas cannot reconstitute itself, and support the Palestinian people in governing, securing, and rebuilding Gaza.

More humanitarian aid

“Today, we are announcing an additional $135 million in humanitarian assistance, water, sanitation and maternal health for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region,” Blinken said.

He stressed the urgency of responding to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, highlighting the extraordinary challenges faced daily by residents of this area. “This is even more urgent as winter approaches,” Blinken said.

Palestinians gather to buy bread at a bakery in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, October 24, 2024.

The announcement brings total U.S. humanitarian aid to more than $1.2 billion since October 7 of last year.

Meanwhile, France hosted an international conference in Paris on Thursday to raise funds to help those affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

France announced a pledge of $108 million, while Germany said it would contribute $103 million in aid to Lebanon.

Ceasefire talks

It remains unclear whether Hamas is ready to engage in upcoming ceasefire talks following the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Al Thani told reporters: “We are closely coordinating with Egypt on any type of initiatives that will emerge on the table. Today there is an ongoing discussion between Egypt and Hamas. We hope that these discussions will lead to something positive. And the discussion that will come afterwards will be a follow-up to that.

Al Thani added that US negotiators will soon meet their Israeli counterparts in Doha to attempt a breakthrough.

After holding talks in Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, Blinken met with Al Thani on Thursday before talks with Arab officials on Friday in London.

Palestinians head towards a devastated neighborhood in Gaza City, October 24, 2024.

Palestinians head towards a devastated neighborhood in Gaza City, October 24, 2024.

Earlier this week, a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development painted a grim picture of the economic impact of Israel’s military operation in Gaza from October 2023 to May 2024.

The report said that even if the war were to end tomorrow and Gaza returned to its pre-conflict conditions, it would still take 350 years for Gaza’s devastated economy to return to its already fragile pre-war state.

“Generals’ Plan”

On Thursday, Blinken renewed U.S. opposition to any Israeli reoccupation of Gaza after the war and “fully and fundamentally” rejected the so-called Generals’ Plan, a proposal by retired Israeli generals that purportedly aimed to block humanitarian aid to northern Gaza to starve Hamas terrorists.

Blinken also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him during their meetings that this was not the policy of the Israeli government. “The Israeli government says this is not Israel’s policy,” Blinken told reporters.

In a video message to the Paris aid conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and urged meaningful steps towards full implementation of the resolutions 1559 and 1701 of the Security Council, which call for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah and the army. withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, October 24, 2024.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, October 24, 2024.

Guterres noted that more than 1.2 million people have been displaced or affected in Lebanon.

“I call on Lebanese leaders to take resolute action to ensure fully functioning state institutions to address the country’s pressing political and security challenges,” Guterres said.

On the battlefields

The Israeli army announced Thursday that it had carried out a new series of airstrikes against Hezbollah weapons production sites in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike while carrying out a rescue operation near the village of Yater in southern Lebanon.

Israel has said its fight is against Iran-backed Hezbollah, not Lebanon, in a conflict that has raised fears of broader regional hostilities.

Medics in Gaza said an Israeli strike hit a school that served as a shelter in Nuseirat, killing at least 16 people.

Men descend a staircase strewn with rubble and debris at a school affected by Israeli bombing in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, October 24, 2024.

Men descend a staircase strewn with rubble and debris at a school affected by Israeli bombing in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, October 24, 2024.

On a separate front Thursday, Syria’s Defense Ministry said Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, killing at least one soldier and injuring seven others.

Israel rarely comments on strikes against targets in Syria, but it has for years struck Iran-linked targets there as part of a campaign to stop arms transfers to Hezbollah and disrupt Iranian proxies.

The war in Gaza began with the Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 people hostage. Hamas still holds around a hundred hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The Israeli counter-offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,847 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with Israel saying the toll includes several thousand Hamas militants.

The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.

VOA’s Ken Bredemeier, Chris Hannas and United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information on this story was provided by the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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