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International efforts to contain the Gaza conflict and prevent it from escalating into a broader regional war intensified Friday.
British and French foreign ministers embarked on a joint visit to Israel, while cease-fire talks in Qatar, mediated by international negotiators, were set to continue into a second day.
This renewed diplomatic push came as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpassed 40,000, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities.
Meanwhile, concerns persisted over potential retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon following the recent deaths of prominent leaders.
“This is a dangerous moment for the Middle East,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. “The risk of the situation spiraling out of control is rising. Any Iranian attack would have devastating consequences for the region.”
Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne were expected to hold a joint meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
“It’s never too late for peace,” Sejourne said. “We must at all costs avoid a regional war, which would have terrible consequences.”
International mediators believe the best hope for calming tensions is a deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the conflict and secure the release of Israeli hostages.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt began a new round of talks Thursday, meeting with an Israeli delegation in Qatar.
Hamas, which did not participate directly in Thursday’s talks, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had U.S. and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.
Israel accuses Hamas of adding its own new demands.
White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby called the talks an important step.
He said a lot of work remains given the complexity of the agreement and that negotiators are focusing on its implementation.
A U.S. official briefed on Thursday’s talks called the discussion “constructive.” The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Qatar said the talks would continue Friday.
The war began when Hamas stormed across the heavily guarded border on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 250 to Gaza.
More than 100 were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November, and around 110 are believed to still be inside Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel’s military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Thursday that Israel had killed more than 17,000 Hamas members in Gaza during the war, without providing evidence.
Diplomats hoped a cease-fire deal would persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to hold off on retaliating for the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’s top political leader in an explosion in Tehran that was widely blamed on Israel.
Kirby said Iran has made preparations and could attack soon with little warning, and that its rhetoric should be taken seriously.
The mediators have spent months trying to finalize a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the hostages in exchange for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Both sides have agreed in principle to the plan President Joe Biden announced on May 31.
However, Hamas has proposed amendments and Israel has suggested clarifications, leading each side to accuse the other of trying to derail the deal.
Hamas has rejected Israel’s demands, which include a lasting military presence along the border with Egypt and a line bisecting Gaza where Israel would search Palestinians returning to their homes.
In a reminder of how the violence has spread from Gaza, masked Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank stormed the village of Jit, setting homes and cars on fire Thursday, according to Israeli and Palestinian media.
One Palestinian was shot dead and another critically injured by the settlers, Palestinian health officials said.
It was the latest in a series of settler attacks since the outbreak of the war.
In the West Bank, 633 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most by Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and towns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying it was the responsibility of its army to secure the country and that those responsible would be apprehended and prosecuted.
Israel’s military said it has apprehended a civilian who took part in the violence and has opened an investigation.
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