Israel-Hamas war: Will continue to push for hostage releases in Gaza, says US NSA
File photo.
The United States National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan said on Monday (Dec 4) that Washington would continue to press for the release of additional hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Addressing a routine White House press briefing, NSA Sullivan said, "This past weekend, I held several rounds of intensive phone calls with partners in Israel, Egypt, Qatar and other nations."
"As we remain intensely engaged in a basically nonstop discussion of the developments in the region since Hamas's devastating terrorist attacks on October 7, we're still talking about trying to find a way forward on hostages. We're talking about sustaining and expanding the humanitarian assistance, making it into Gaza," he added.
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Sullivan also said that Hamas militants were refusing to release civilian women who should have been part of the truce deal. "And it is that refusal by Hamas that has caused the end of the hostage agreement and therefore the end to the pause in hostility," he said.
The NSA urged Israel to avoid attacking areas that it identified as "no-strike" zones in Gaza.
Sullivan's remarks came as the Israeli military intensified its offensive in Gaza, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians.
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According to a report by the news agency early Tuesday Reuters, Hamas ally Islamic Jihad's armed wing said its fighters engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers north and east of Khan Younis.
Since the conflict started on Oct 7, around 80 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million population has already fled Gaza. On Monday, Israel ordered Palestinians to leave parts of Khan Younis, indicating they should move towards the Mediterranean coast and Rafah.
The military posted a map on X with around a quarter of Khan Younis marked off in yellow as a territory that must be evacuated at once.
Meanwhile, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel to avoid further action that would make the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza worse and to spare civilians from more suffering.
"The Secretary-General is extremely alarmed by the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas... For people ordered to evacuate, there is nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
(With inputs from agencies)