Israeli military announced that it was launching a large-scale attack against Hamas targets in Gaza on Thursday but did not provide any additional information.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to the region to meet with the warring parties.
Israeli jets have been bombing Gazan targets for days in retaliation for a weekend attack in which Hamas militants breached the enclave’s border fence, killing 1,200 people, injuring over 2,700 others, and seizing dozens of hostages, according to the Israeli military.
According to reports, Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza City as well as the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the strip.
Palestinian media, citing Gaza’s health ministry, reported earlier that 1,200 people had been killed and approximately 5,600 had been injured.
The U.S. Secretary of State will arrive on Thursday and will also visit Jordan to reassure Israel of continued U.S. support, seek the release of hostages (including Americans), and avert an escalation of the conflict.
Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, announced on social media platform X that Blinken and Abbas will meet on Friday without providing any additional information.
Biden told a group of Jewish community leaders in Washington that the purpose of sending warships and aircraft closer to Israel was to send a message to Iran, which supports the terrorist organizations Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Iran has denied involvement in the Hamas attacks.
