Supporters of hostages who were kidnapped during the Israeli-Hamas conflict demand their immediate release in a protest outside during US Secretary of State Blinken’s state visit in Tel Aviv on Monday. Picture: Reuters
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack.
A man who was carrying the bomb was killed and a passer-by was injured in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene in Israel’s commercial capital.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the man was carrying a backpack loaded with explosives that detonated “before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area”.
In a joint statement, the two Palestinian militant groups said their “martyrdom operations” inside Israel would return to the forefront as long as the “occupation’s massacres and assassination policy continue”. This was an allusion to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the July 31 killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The war in Gaza began on October 7 last year when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israeli communities, killing about 1 200 people and abducting about 250 hostages. Israel’s military campaign has since levelled wide swathes of the Gaza Strip and killed at least 40 000 people.
Meanwhile, on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was probably the best and possibly last opportunity, urging Israel and Hamas towards an elusive agreement.
The talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough, but the negotiations are to resume this week based on a US “bridging proposal”.
Blinken met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said before meeting Herzog.
Months of on-off talks have circled the same issues, with Israel saying the war can only end with the destruction of Hamas as a military and political force and Hamas saying it will only accept a permanent, and not a temporary, ceasefire.
There are disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, over the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory, and over the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swop.
Despite US expressions of optimism, both Israel and Hamas have signalled that a deal will be difficult.
Hamas accused Netanyahu on Sunday of “thwarting the mediators efforts” and Türkiye said Hamas envoys had told it that US officials were “painting an overly optimistic picture”.
Netanyahu told Israel’s cabinet on Sunday that “we are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give”, his office said.
However, a US official, asked if Hamas’ comments amounted to a rejection of the deal, said Washington believed the bridging proposal it outlined last week addressed various concerns and would iron out difficult implementation aspects.
The main UN agency in Gaza, UNRWA, said on Monday that 207 of its staff had been killed since the war began. “They were engineers, teachers, medical staff. They were humanitarian workers,” UNRWA said.
Blinken’s visit comes as US President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure over his stance on the conflict, with his Democratic party holding its national convention yesterday amid worries about Muslim and Arab-American votes in swing states.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri was dismissive of the chances that Blinken would press Netanyahu to accept a deal. “Blinken acts as if he was a minister in Netanyahu’s government,” Zuhri said.
The conflict has triggered months of border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, threatening a wider escalation drawing in major powers.
Israel’s military said there had been more Hezbollah drone strikes on the country’s north near the frontier with Lebanon on Monday. Blinken is set to meet Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after meeting Netanyahu.
Israeli military advances north of Khan Younis on Monday reached the coastal road, cutting access between the city and areas to the north, residents said. They said fierce clashes could be heard.
Israel also stepped up its bombardment of Gaza City suburbs overnight, and airstrikes in Nuseirat camp and in Khan Younis in southern and central Gaza Strip. Medics said eight Palestinians were killed.
Cape Times