Blinken meets Abbas as bombing continues in Gaza

TEL AVIV — Israel kept bombing Gaza on Wednesday as US top diplomat Antony Blinken met the head of Palestine.

Blinken said he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding Gaza after the conflict, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is "a pathway to a Palestinian state".

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Blinken on Wednesday that Gaza is integral to Palestinian statehood hopes and should not be cut off as a result of Israel's conflict with Hamas.

Abbas further called for the "convening an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine".

Global concern has flared over the spiraling humanitarian crisis, and Blinken, while urging steps to reduce the surging death toll, has voiced continued US political and military support for its ally Israel.

On Wednesday, the White House reiterated that the US does not support a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Cease-fire protests have been seen recently in many parts of the US, ranging from near airports and bridges in New York City and Los Angeles to vigils outside the White House and marches in Washington near the US Capitol.

South Africa, which has long been a critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, has launched a case against the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, former UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he will join the South African delegation for this week's hearings at the ICJ, where the country accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.

On the Israel-Lebanon border, the exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah escalated on Tuesday.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari admitted Israel was behind the assassination of Ali Hussein Barji, a Hezbollah commander, in Lebanon earlier on Tuesday, a day after it killed a senior commander of Hezbollah.

The IDF on Tuesday carried out several strikes on southern Lebanon, killing three Hezbollah members who, according to Hagari, were attempting to launch drones at Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it was "expanding" its assaults in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, where at least 40 Palestinian militants were killed over the past day.

Agencies - Xinhua