AMMAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Arab leaders on Saturday urged an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, pressing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to convince Israel, but the top U.S. diplomat said such a halt right now would only allow Palestinian militant group Hamas to regroup and attack Israel again.
In a rare public disagreement at a news conference in Amman, foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt, standing alongside Blinken, repeatedly pushed for a cessation of hostilities, saying the death of thousands of civilians could not be justified as self-defense.
They also refused to discuss in-depth what comes next for Gaza, when and if Hamas is eradicated, saying the immediate focus should be on the effort to establish a cessation of hostilities.
Blinken is on his second trip to the region since Israel and Hamas went to war on Oct. 7, when the Islamist militant Palestinian group raided Israel from Gaza, in a rampage Israel says killed 1,400 people, with more than 240 others taken hostage.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 9,250 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since then. The Israeli army has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground assault, stirring global alarm at humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Food is scarce and medical services are collapsing.
The growing number of civilian deaths in Gaza has intensified international calls for a ceasefire but Washington, like Israel, has so far dismissed…
