Israel's Gantz tells Blinken his party supports Biden's Gaza cease-fire proposal

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The head of the Israeli National Unity party, Benny Gantz, on Tuesday informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that his party supports the Gaza cease-fire proposal by US President Joe Biden.

According to a statement by Gantz's office, he urged Blinken to apply "maximum pressure" on negotiators to ensure a hostage release deal.

During a meeting in Tel Aviv, Gantz told Blinken that even if he has quit the government, he will "support any responsible arrangement on the matter."

He also said that if the Hezbollah threat in northern Israel is not removed, "Israel will not hesitate to act forcefully" against the Lebanese group.

War Cabinet member Gantz quit the emergency government on Sunday, accusing Netanyahu of pursuing policies that serve his political interests. They also called for early elections “as soon as possible.”

Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday on the second leg of his eighth Mideast tour since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 7.

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that supports a Gaza cease-fire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden with 14 votes in favor and only Russia's abstention.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 37,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar