CAIRO/WASHINGTON –  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 22 in talks aimed at ensuring more aid flows into Gaza and moving the needle closer to a deal between Israel and Hamas that would pause the six-month-old war in Gaza.

“A hundred per cent of the population of Gaza is experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity. We cannot, we must not, allow that to continue,” Mr Blinken said at a news conference late on March 21.

“Israel needs to do more. I’ll be talking to our partners about how to coordinate our efforts,” he said.

Mr Blinken pushed Mr Netanyahu to take urgent steps to allow more aid into Gaza, where mass death from famine is imminent, according to the United Nations. The two met for about 40 minutes.

United States officials say the number of aid deliveries via land needs to increase fast, and that aid needs to be sustained over a long period.

Israel insists it is not blocking food aid, but aid agencies say it is not providing enough access or security.

Israeli Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, said there is no food shortage in the enclave.

“As much as we know, by our analysis, there is no starvation in Gaza. There is a sufficient amount of food entering Gaza every day,” he told reporters.

Mr Blinken is also expected to discuss Israel’s intention to launch a ground offensive on Rafah, a city on the southern edge of Gaza where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering in makeshift shelters.

Washington has repeatedly objected to such a plan. Mr Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a phone call on March 18 that Israel sees no other way to defeat Hamas fighters it says are holed up in Rafah.

Discussions on March 22 will likely lay the groundwork for meetings in Washington between senior Israeli and US officials next week, when the US will present to the Israelis alternative ways to hunt down Hamas without resorting to a full-on assault that would endanger more civilian lives.

Mr Blinken said on March 21 in Cairo that he believed talks mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt could still reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Negotiations in Qatar centred on a truce of around six weeks that would allow the release of 40 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, and pave the way for more aid to enter Gaza.

“Negotiators continue to work. The gaps are narrowing, and we’re continuing to push for an agreement in Doha. There’s still difficult work to get there. But I continue to believe it’s possible,” Mr Blinken said.

The main sticking point has been that Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war, while Israel says it will discuss only a temporary pause.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation efforts, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that Hamas had demonstrated flexibility.

“(Israel) continues to stall because it doesn’t want to commit to ending the war on Gaza,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Israel said it expected to continue attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for a few more days. The facility, where residents reported tanks, gunfire and flames on March 21, is the only partially working medical facility in the north of the enclave and has already been under attack for four days.

Israel says Hamas gunmen are holding out at the medical complex, something Hamas denies. Israel claims it has killed 150 fighters and captured 358 militants in and around the hospital in recent days.

US exerts more pressure on Israel

Washington, which traditionally has shielded Israel at the UN, has incrementally applied more pressure on its long-time ally, and the draft UN Security Council resolution marked a further toughening.

The shift has coincided with rising global condemnation of the five-month-old war, Palestinian civilian deaths, domestic political opposition to US President Joe Biden’s stance and the prospect of a man-made famine in Gaza.

The UN text, seen by Reuters, says an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” lasting roughly six weeks would protect civilians and allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Earlier in the war, the US was averse to the word “ceasefire” and had vetoed measures that included calls for an immediate ceasefire.

The new resolution expresses support for the talks in Qatar, the freeing of Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails. The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

To pass in the Security Council, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no veto by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China. European Union leaders also issued a call for an immediate ceasefire on March 21.

The US has wanted any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s offensive has killed almost 32,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to Gaza health authorities. REUTERS