US to call on Israel to implement ‘localised’ humanitarian pauses in Gaza

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken was due in Israel on Friday to call for localised pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza as Israel said it surrounded the Palestinian enclave's biggest city and the focus of its drive to annihilate Hamas. With the conflict nearing the end of its fourth week, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken was due to visit Israel for the second time in a month to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's military battled Hamas militants, who fought back with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels. "We are in the middle of a battle. We have passed the outskirts of Gaza City with spectacular success. We are moving forward," Netanyahu said after the army announced it had surrounded the coastal enclave's capital, said in a statement. Blinken said that as he leaves Washington for the Middle East, he will discuss concrete steps to minimize harm to civilians in the Gaza Strip. Mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians, along with acute shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel, have intensified calls by global leaders for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire. Israel has dismissed those calls, saying it targets Hamas fighters whom it accuses of intentionally hiding among the population and civilian buildings. The White House has also rejected calls for a ceasefire. The White House said on Thursday it was looking into a series of pauses in the conflict. "What we're trying to do is explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages," U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Blinken also was due to meet Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman on Saturday. In a statement, Safadi said Israel must end the war on Gaza, where he said it was committing war crimes by bombing civilians and imposing a siege.