Blinken in Israel is expected to call for fighting pause to allow aid in Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives today at Tel Aviv and is expected to ask the Israeli government to comply with the fighting pause in Gaza, according to the White House.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said the United States is not contributing to a general ceasefire, but a temporary “pause, located”.

As we leave Washington, Blinken said he would discuss concrete steps to minimize the damage of civilians to Gaza during his visit to Israel.

Since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7th, killing 1,400 Israelis, at least 9,061 Palestinians have been killed in the war, mainly women and minors, and more than 32,000 people have been injured, the health ministry in Gaza said on Thursday. The death toll is unprecedented in decades of Israeli-Palestinian war, reports the Associated Press.

More than 3,700 Palestinian children have been killed in 25 days of fighting more than six times the 560 children the UN has reported killed in 19 months of war in Ukraine until October 8th.

Bombings have expelled more than half of the country's 2.3 million inhabitants from their homes. Food, water and fuel are running out under the siege of Israel, and overloaded hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse.