The USA is also putting pressure on a longer ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is giving the Americans a maximum of ten days before he wants to end the ceasefire and continue the war in Gaza. And only if Hamas releases at least ten hostages every single day.

• Also read: Disagreement over the list of names: the liberation of hostages stalls

Against this backdrop, Joe Biden’s man for sensitive missions, CIA Director William Burns, traveled to Qatar under a veil of secrecy. All that is known is that Burns, through the mediation of the sheikdom and in close coordination with the Israeli secret service Mossad, is trying to obtain the release of more hostages.

The president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden was closely involved in the effort. So far, the US President has only had limited success. Sunday’s release of four-year-old Avigail Idan is the only U.S. hostage to be released so far. Biden put aside his well-known animosity toward Netanyahu after the terrorist attacks and demonstratively traveled to Tel Aviv to express his full solidarity with Israel. Since then, the Americans have used all available diplomatic, military and intelligence channels to influence their allies.

Without too much success. Israel ignored warnings from Washington and launched a major ground offensive and bombing campaign in northern Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is also in the region this week, publicly criticized in early November “that far too many Palestinians have been killed.”

Video: ORF correspondent Tim Cupal reports what is known about the conditions of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

The Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza says 14,800 people were killed, most of them women and children. A number that, according to the US State Department, could be even higher. More than 1.7 million people, or around 80 percent of the population, had to leave their homes.

As the New York Times reported on Tuesday, the White House has made it abundantly clear that Israel needs to take a much more “surgical” approach to southern Gaza. Hospitals, UN refugee camps, water and electricity infrastructure would have to be excluded from attacks. International organizations could no longer cope with the humanitarian crisis caused by bombings like those in the north. A senior White House official said the Israelis had been open to it.

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