United States President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon as part of a new push to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Sullivan visits as Israeli forces are carrying out military operations in Gaza, including in the city of Rafah. Alot of people have evacuated Rafah following Israeli orders.
He is to urge Israel to avoid conducting extensive military operations in Rafah. The US has stated it would cease supplying certain weapons if Israel were to initiate significant ground actions in the city.
Mr Sullivan is expected to push Israel to avoid a full-scale assault on the city of Rafah. The US has previously said that it would stop supplying some weapons if Israel launches a major ground offensive on the city.
It was reported that Mr. Netanyahu and his associates would seek to negotiate with Mr. Sullivan the necessity of advancing into Rafah.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza reported on Sunday that a missile strike on Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza resulted in at least 20 deaths and several injuries. Israel’s military stated it was verifying the reports and confirmed that on Saturday two soldiers were killed in southern combat.
Previously, conversations regarding a potential ceasefire have seen minimal success.
Recently Hamas supported a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. However, Israel claimed that the proposal Hamas agreed to was different from the one it had already accepted.
Israel also rejected a proposal for a “permanent” ceasefire and said releasing bodies, rather than hostages was not acceptable.
Israel stated that releasing bodies, rather than hostages, was unacceptable, after rejecting a proposal for a“permanent” ceasefire.
Following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel last year which caused 1,200 deaths and 252 others taken captive, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza aimed at destroying the militant group.
According to Hamas-run health ministry over 35,456 people have been killed in Gaza after then.
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