![]() There are an estimated 500-600 Palestinian-Americans in Gaza. The State Department official told the press traveling with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the US focus has been “on American citizens, but other countries you could presume are engaged in trying to get their foreign nationals out as well.” Peter Lerner told CNN on Friday that any deadline “may slip.” ![]() The United Nations on Thursday said it was informed by the Israeli military that “the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” but Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. US officials have been engaged in discussions for days to try to secure a humanitarian corridor that would allow Americans and other civilians to safely leave Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli military incursion. The United States is continuing to press the Egyptian and Israeli governments on “the importance of the Rafah crossing being open for American citizens and foreign nationals of other countries who want to leave and have the right to leave to be able to do so,” a senior State Department official said Friday. Now, the entire population is being told to move into the southern part of the strip – an order the UN has described as “impossible.” Gaza is already one of the world’s most densely populated pieces of land, with more than 2 million people crammed into 140 square miles. Some background: On Thursday, Israel’s military warned 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes, amid signs Israel is set to ramp up its retaliatory offensive against Hamas following the group’s October 7 terror attacks. The two leaders underscored the significance of intensifying efforts to de-escalate the conflict, protect civilians, uphold international humanitarian law, and ensure the unimpeded delivery of medical and relief aid through the establishment of humanitarian corridors. King Abdullah II and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held a call Friday to discuss the worsening situation in Gaza, the Jordanian Royal Hashemite Court said in a statement.ĭuring the call, the king “warned against attempts to displace the Palestinians” and emphasized the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis and the spread of violence, the statement said. Royal Hashemite Court/Anadolu via Getty Images King Abdullah II speaks at the opening of the 11th term of the Jordanian Parliament in Amman, Jordan, on October 11. The country’s Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said Thursday that Hamas' "litany of brutality and inhumanity" evokes "the worst of ISIS." Remember: The US also made the comparison earlier this week, with President Joe Biden saying in a news briefing on Tuesday, “the brutality of Hamas, this blood-thirstiness, brings to mind the worst, the worst rampages of ISIS." According to his office, Gallant said: "Hamas is the ‘ISIS’ of Gaza, a savage organization, funded and supported by Iran. Separately, Israeli Defense Minister Yaov Gallant delivered a similar message to NATO defense ministers. "Hamas is ISIS, or as the US president said, worse than ISIS," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Tajani’s comparison of Hamas to ISIS echoes similar comments made by the US and Israel this week. They are murderous terrorists and must be stopped." Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani traveled to Israel on Friday and met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in the city of Netivot.ĭocumenting his visit in a post on "X," formerly known as Twitter, Tajani said Hamas "is like ISIS, it kills like the Nazis. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks during a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday. The United States and Qatar are “working intensively together to secure the release of hostages,” including Americans, Blinken said at the news conference in Doha on Friday.īlinken, who met with top Qatari officials including the emir and the foreign minister, did not offer further details about those efforts.ĬNN has previously reported that Qatar has been in talks with Hamas about the hostages that the militant group is holding inside Gaza, and the US has been coordinating with the Qataris as they play a key mediating role with Hamas, according to a senior US official and another person familiar with the discussions. ![]() He also called for a de-escalation in the region and an immediate ceasefire. ![]() Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani condemned the killing of civilians in Israel and Gaza and called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks during a press conference alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha, Qatar, on Friday. ![]()
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