Soon a new truce between Israel and Hamas? US President Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, “is located in Cairo” to discuss a “break” in the fighting and the release of the hostages, according to Washington. “I can’t tell you if and when we can get there, but the conversations are very sober and serious to try to put in place another hostage agreement”, said John Kirby, a White House spokesman. Follow our live stream.
Khan Younes at the center of the fighting. Early this Wednesday, witnesses reported Israeli military helicopter fire around Khan Younes, the main town in the south of the Gaza Strip, where local Hamas leaders are hiding, according to Israel. The Israeli army claims to have “surrounded” this city and ordered the population to evacuate.
A two-state solution still rejected. Until now, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. This rejection of the two-state solution is “unacceptable” and risk of “prolong the conflict”, warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before the Security Council.
Losses for the Israeli army. The Israeli army announced Tuesday the death of 21 reservists in the collapse of two buildings where they were planting explosives, after a rocket fired against a nearby tank. With the deaths of three other soldiers in a separate incident, it was the heaviest daily loss for the Israeli army since the start of its offensive, bringing the total death toll to 221.