Israel-Hamas war: Blinken pushes for cease-fire in his 9th trip to Mideast since war began

Representational Pic/File/AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says now is "maybe the last" opportunity to reach a Gaza cease-fire agreement that would return hostages held by Hamas and bring relief to Palestinian suffering after 10 months of war in Gaza.

Blinken on Monday was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the conflict began. His visit came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism a deal was near. But Hamas has voiced deep dissatisfaction with the latest proposal and Israel has said there were areas it was unwilling to compromise.

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The trip also comes amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel.

"This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security," Blinken said as he opened talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.

Here's the latest: UN says a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023, mostly from the agency for Palestinian refugees Berlin - A record number of aid workers were killed in conflicts around the world last year, and this year may be on course to be even deadlier, the United Nations said Monday.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023 - more than double the previous year's figure of 118. It said that more than half of last year's deaths were registered in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza war that started in October, mostly as a result of airstrikes.

The office said that this year "may be on track for an even deadlier outcome," with 172 aid workers killed as of Aug. 7.

More than 280, the majority of them with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed in Gaza so far, according to OCHA.

Israeli authorities say powerful explosive' killed 1 person in Tel Aviv Jerusalem - A blast that killed one person and wounded another in Tel Aviv on Sunday night was a terror attack caused by a large explosive device, Israeli authorities said Monday.

A joint statement from the police and Israel's Shin Bet security agency gave few details other than saying the attack involved "a powerful explosive." They did not identify the attacker or give a motive.

Police said Sunday that the explosion killed one person, presumed to be the bomber.

"We know that the mutilated body is not that of an innocent bystander but the one who carried the bomb," Tel Aviv District Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner Peretz Amar said. The statement on Monday only referenced the bystander who was moderately wounded.

Israeli media provided security footage that showed the presumed attacker walking down the street wearing a large backpack just before the explosion.

1 Palestinian killed and 2 wounded in a shooting on a street in Istanbul Istanbul - Police in Istanbul have launched a "large-scale investigation" after a Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting as they sat in a car, officials and media said Monday.

The killer dropped a handgun fitted with a silencer at the scene, the Istanbul Governor's Office said in a brief statement.

The Demiroren News Agency reported that the man sitting in the driver's seat was killed and his friend seriously wounded in the shooting late Sunday. Another man, who the governor's office described as the dead man's bodyguard, was injured in the foot.

The killing was carried out by a masked assailant or assailants, the agency said. The victims were sitting on Dilaver Street in the Kagithane district of north Istanbul when the attack happened. It described the seriously wounded victim as a businessman.

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