The US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee holds a note given to him from US President Donald Trump to be placed in the cracks of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem. AP
In his first act as ambassador, Huckabee said Trump told him to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Huckabee also said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining captives held in Gaza. A one-time presidential hopeful, Huckabee has acknowledged his past support for Israel’s right to annex the West Bank and incorporate its Palestinian population into Israel but said it would not be his “prerogative” to carry out that policy.
During his first term, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital over Palestinian objections and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv. Palestinians seek the eastern part of the city, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as their future capital.
Multiple international resolutions and legal opinions—including UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 478, annual UN General Assembly resolutions, the Oslo Accords, and the International Court of Justice’s 2004 advisory opinion—affirm the Palestinian right to East Jerusalem as part of a Palestinian state.
Huckabee's arrival comes at a pivotal time in the 18-month war, as international mediators, including the US are trying to get a broken ceasefire back on track.
On 18 March, Tel Aviv unilaterally ended a two-month truce with Hamas and resumed its war on Gaza.
Israel is demanding that more captives be released at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Israel has said it plans to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.
Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, said Thursday the group had rejected Israel’s latest proposal along those lines. He reiterated Hamas’ stance that it will return captives only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached in January.
Currently, 59 captives are held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Friday’s airstrikes came a day after aid groups raised alarm over Israel’s blockade of Gaza, where it has barred entry of all food and other goods for more than six weeks. Thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, the United Nations said.
Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 25 people on Friday, including children, hospital workers said.
The dead included 15 people killed in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Ten people were killed in Jabaliya, including eight from the same home, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
The strikes came a day after more than Israeli forces killed two dozen people in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, stated that Tel Aviv would continue to besiege Gaza despite a United Nations (UN) warning on Monday that the territory is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the outbreak of the Israeli genocidal war on the strip on 7 October 2023.
"Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza ... No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid," Katz stated.
"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
OCHA stated no supplies had reached Gaza for a month and a half, and medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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