Senior American and European diplomats discussed – on Sunday – ways to prevent the expansion of the Gaza war in the Middle East, but the ongoing bloodshed shows the difficulties facing these efforts three months after the start of the conflict.
The Israeli army said that an Israeli plane opened fire on Palestinian gunmen who attacked soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, and Palestinian health officials said that 3 Palestinians were martyred in the air strike.
According to what the army and police announced, an Israeli border police officer was killed and others were injured when their car was hit by an explosive device during operations in the city of Jenin in the West Bank.
The West Bank had already witnessed the highest levels of tension in decades during the 18 months preceding the October 7 attack launched by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but confrontations have escalated sharply since Israel launched its retaliatory attack that devastated the Gaza Strip, saying it aims to eliminate agitation.
Hundreds of Palestinians were martyred in the West Bank in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers during the past weeks, and security forces arrested thousands.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell went to the region on two separate visits to try to stop the spread of the war to Lebanon, the West Bank, and shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Blinken visited Jordan – today, Sunday – after stopping in Türkiye and Greece, while Borrell visited Lebanon. Both said that the priority was to prevent the expansion of the Gaza war.
Blinken, who will also travel to Israel, the West Bank, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt during his fourth tour in the region, said, “We are focusing intensely on preventing the expansion of this conflict.”
In a report on the Israeli attack yesterday, Saturday, Israeli army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli forces had completed the dismantling of the “military framework” of Hamas in northern Gaza and added: “We are now focusing on dismantling Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip.”
He pointed out that “the fighting will continue during the year 2024,” saying, “We are working according to a plan to achieve the goals of the war, which is to dismantle Hamas in the north and south.”