The Biden administration accelerated efforts to end the Gaza war on Friday as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv and the CIA director traveled to Qatar, where mediators sought to bridge the rift between Israel and to reduce Hamas over a ceasefire. fire deal.

Mr Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and members of Israel’s war cabinet at a time of high tensions between the allies. US officials have become more vocal in criticizing Netanyahu’s war strategy, including his plan to launch a military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city full of displaced civilians.

But the Biden administration has failed to impose restrictions on military aid to Israel. While the country on Friday supported a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire – a measure that was not adopted – the country also did not demand a permanent halt to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

In a statement after their meeting, Mr Netanyahu said he had reiterated to Mr Blinken that Israel recognized the need to protect civilians and guarantee humanitarian aid to Gaza but was committed to sending troops to Rafah despite US insistence not to do that.

“We have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there,” Netanyahu said. “And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US. But if we have to, we will do it alone.”

A member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, Benny Gantz, said in a statement that he thanked Mr. Blinken “for his support for Israel and the deep American commitment to its security.” But Mr. Gantz — a longtime political rival of Mr. Netanyahu who crossed parliamentary lines to join his wartime government — said he had emphasized that Israel must “dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure, including in Rafah.”

The foreign secretary was making the final stop of a multi-part tour of the Middle East, his sixth since the war began in October. At the same time, a US official said that William J. Burns, the director of the CIA, traveled to Qatar to participate in talks aimed at reaching an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would mark the start of a time-limited ceasefire the firing and the exchange of captured Palestinians. of Israel for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo on Thursday, Mr Blinken said the gap between Hamas and Israel’s negotiating positions was “narrowing” but that striking a deal would be difficult.

He also reiterated the US position that Israel must do more to ensure humanitarian aid reaches desperate Gaza residents at risk of starvation, saying Israel has taken positive steps in recent weeks to ensure aid reaches flow.

Mr Blinken arrived in Israel after stops in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and Egypt on Thursday, where he met with officials to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and plan for the territory’s future governance and security.

The United States has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for “an immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. his last trip to Gaza. the region to mediate a diplomatic solution to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Biden administration officials have become more forceful in recent weeks in their push for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, as humanitarian conditions in Gaza have reached crisis levels and political pressure for international action increases.

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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Israel this week, adding a stop to his latest trip to the Middle East, amid intense diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to establish.

Mr Blinken arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday afternoon. The State Department initially made no mention of Israel when announcing his travel plans, saying only that he would visit Saudi Arabia and then Egypt during the trip – the sixth time Mr Blinken has come to the region since the Hamas-led guided attack on Israel on October 7. the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, the State Department said Mr Blinken would also travel to Israel for talks with the country’s “leadership” on efforts to secure the release of hostages in Gaza and to “dramatically accelerate” the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave. to perform”.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli government. There were also no details about who Mr. Blinken would meet.

The visit will come at a time when American and Israeli leaders are increasingly at odds over Israel’s approach to the war. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed aside President Biden’s opposition to a planned ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, saying Tuesday that his government would press ahead despite pleas for restraint from the United States and other allies.

In a phone call with Mr. Netanyahu this week, Mr. Biden argued that a ground invasion could be disastrous for those hiding in Rafah and that Israel has other ways to achieve its goal of defeating Hamas.

Before the trip, the State Department had said Mr. Blinken would meet with Saudi and Egyptian leaders, without naming specific officials.

The discussions were expected to include post-war plans for Gaza and the broader Middle East, including a possible agreement that would ease relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and lay the groundwork for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, Mr. Blinking to reporters about a stop. Tuesday in Manila.

His trip comes as negotiators from Israel have joined officials from Egypt and Qatar for meetings in the Qatari capital Doha aimed at securing a lull in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held there by Hamas and other armed groups.

These efforts have taken on greater urgency as the death toll in Gaza rises and the United Nations warns that famine in the enclave is “imminent.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Blinken emphasized the need to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza, whose residents, he said, “continue to face a horrific humanitarian situation.” He said Hamas was to blame for the crisis, but that it was also “Israel’s job” to protect civilians during its military campaign.

John Yoon reporting contributed.

With his death, Mr. Issa, who was among Israel’s most wanted men, became the most senior Hamas leader to be killed since the Gaza war began. Israeli officials have characterized the attack as a breakthrough in their campaign to wipe out Hamas leadership in Gaza.

But experts warned that his death would not have a devastating effect on Hamas’s leadership structure. Israel has assassinated Hamas’s political and military leaders in the past, only to see them quickly replaced.

Here’s a closer look at Mr. Issa and what his death means for Hamas and its leadership.

What was Mr. Issa’s role in Hamas?

Mr. Issa, who was 58 or 59 at the time of his death, had served since 2012 as a deputy to Mohammed Deif, the elusive leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. Mr Issa took on the role after the killing of another top commander, Ahmed al-Jabari.

Mr. Issa was a member of Hamas’s military council and its political office in Gaza, overseen by Yahya Sinwar, the group’s top official in the enclave. Mr. Issa was described by Palestinian analysts and former Israeli security officials as a key strategist who played a key role as a liaison between Hamas’ military and political leaders.

Salah al-Din al-Awawdeh, a Palestinian analyst close to Hamas, described Mr. Issa’s position in the group as “part of the front rank of the leadership of the military wing.”

Major General Tamir Hayman, the former head of Israel’s military intelligence, said Mr. Issa was simultaneously Hamas’s “defense minister,” its deputy military commander and its “strategic mind.”

What does his death mean for the group?

Experts described Mr Issa as a key associate of Mr Deif and Mr Sinwar, although they said his death did not threaten the group’s survival.

“There is always a replacement,” Mr Awawdeh said. “I don’t think the killing of any member of the military wing will have an effect on its activities.”

Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and an expert on Palestinian affairs, said Mr. Issa’s death was a significant blow to the Qassam Brigades, although he admitted it was not “the end of the world” for Hamas.

“He had a lot of experience,” Mr. Milshtein said. “His death is a great loss for Hamas, but it is not a loss that will lead to its collapse and it will not affect it for a long time. In a week or two they will overcome it.’

Mr. Milshtein added that even though Mr. Issa’s views were valued at the highest levels of Hamas, the fact that he did not directly command fighters meant that his death did not leave a gaping hole in Hamas’s operations.

How is he described?

Mr. Issa was a lesser-known member of Hamas’s top leadership, kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public.

Gerhard Conrad, a former German intelligence officer who met Mr. Issa more than a decade ago, described him as a “decisive and calm” person lacking charisma. “He wasn’t very eloquent, but he knew what to say, and he was straight to the point,” Mr. Conrad said in an interview.

Mr. Conrad said he met Mr. Issa, Mr. al-Jabari and Mahmoud al-Zahar, another senior Hamas official, about a dozen times in Gaza City between 2009 and 2011. The men met as part of an effort to broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

“He was the master of prisoner data,” Mr. Conrad said of Mr. Issa. “He had all the names that needed to be negotiated.”

However, Mr Conrad said it was clear at the time that Mr Issa was subordinate to Mr al-Jabari. “He was like a chief of staff,” he said.

It was only after Mr Al-Jabari’s murder that Mr Issa’s fame grew, but he was still keen to stay out of sight. There are few images of Mr. Issa in the public domain.

Mr. Awawdeh, the analyst, called Mr. Issa a man who liked to “stay in the shadows” and who rarely gave interviews to the media.

In one of those rare interviewsMr. Issa spoke in 2021 about his role in the indirect talks that resulted in Israel exchanging more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israeli soldier, Sgt. First Class Gilad Shalit, and his hopes for future conflict with Israel.

“Even if the resistance in Palestine is watched by the enemy at all times, it will take the enemy by surprise,” he told Al Jazeera at the time.

In a separate 2005 interview with a Hamas publication, Mr. Issa praised the militants who overran Israeli settlements and military bases, calling the actions “heroic” and a “sophisticated activity.”

What is known about his early life?

Mr. Issa was born in 1965 in the Bureij area of ​​central Gaza, but his family comes from what is now the Ashkelon area of ​​Israel.

A member of Hamas for decades, Mr. Awawdeh said he was involved with the militant group involved in the pursuit of Palestinians believed to have collaborated with Israel.

Mr. Issa spent time in prisons operated by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Admiral Hagari has said that Mr. Issa helped plan the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Mr. Issa is also thought to have planned operations aimed at infiltrating Israeli settlements during the second intifada in the 2000s, Mr. Milshtein said.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Friday that the US government now views new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories as “contrary to international law,” marking a reversal of policies established under the Trump administration and a return to a decades-long crisis. American position on this controversial topic.

Mr Blinken was speaking at a news conference in Buenos Aires after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made an announcement on Thursday indicating that thousands of new homes would be added to the settlements. Mr Blinken said he was “disappointed” by the announcement.

“It has long been U.S. policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving lasting peace,” he said. “They are contrary to international law. Our government remains firmly opposed to settlement expansion. And in our judgment, this only weakens – it does not strengthen – Israel’s security.”

Mr Blinken was in Argentina for meetings with recently elected President Javier Milei and Secretary of State Diana Mondino.

In Washington, John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, reiterated that position in comments to reporters. “This is a position that has been consistent across a series of Republican and Democratic administrations – if any administration is inconsistent, it was the last one,” he said.

State Department officials declined to say what, if any, actions the United States might take to hold Israeli settlers or the government legally liable for the construction of new settlements.

For many years, the settlements have been spread across the West Bank, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, without the United States pushing for any legal action. About 500,000 residents now live in the occupied West Bank and more than 200,000 in East Jerusalem.

In November 2019, President Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, reversed four decades of US policy by saying the settlements did not violate international law. State Department lawyers never issued a new legal decision supporting this policy change, and Mr. Blinken’s return to the old policy is consistent with a long-standing legal conclusion by the Department.

Beginning in 2021, when President Biden took office, diplomatic reporters asked State Department officials whether Mr. Blinken planned to reverse Mr. Pompeo’s move, but the officials each time said there was no change in policy.

Some State Department officials had grown concerned last year about a sharp increase in violence by extremist settlers. After Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, violence increased in the West Bank, and Mr. Biden and Mr. Blinken began denouncing the actions and settlement expansion.

On Friday afternoon, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal Jewish American advocacy group that tries to shape policy toward Israel, praised Mr. Blinken’s announcement.

“Now the government must make it clear that, especially in light of the volatility of the current situation between Israelis and Palestinians, there should be no further expansion of the settlement enterprise,” he said in a statement. He added that the Biden administration must demonstrate that it will “take further steps to reinforce its position – and that of the international community – that the creeping annexation of the West Bank must stop.”

Pompeo’s move in 2019 strengthened the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who had vowed to annex the West Bank in two elections that year. Netanyahu’s new governing coalition has several far-right ministers who support this direction, and it is those politicians who have helped Netanyahu stay in power despite widespread criticism of him over his failure to protect Israel from the October 7 attacks. Hamas and its attempts to undermine the power of the judiciary.

On Thursday evening, the office of one of those ministers, Mr. Smotrich, announced that an existing Israeli planning commission to oversee construction in the West Bank would be convened.

He said the committee would move forward with plans for more than 3,000 homes, most of them in Ma’ale Adumim, near the site of a Palestinian shooting earlier the same day. Mr. Smotrich’s office described the settlement expansion as an “appropriate Zionist response” to the attack.

“Let any terrorist who wishes to harm us know that raising a hand against the citizens of Israel will be met with death, destruction and the deepening of our eternal hold on the entire land of Israel,” Mr. Smotrich said in a statement .

Mr. Smotrich’s office did not say when the committee would be convened, whether the housing units would be new homes or what stage of the planning process they were in.

Mr. Blinken also said he would refrain from judging the post-war plan for Gaza that Mr. Netanyahu began circulating among Israeli officials. Mr. Blinken said any plan must adhere to three principles: Gaza must not be a base for terrorism; the Israeli government must not reoccupy Gaza; and the size of Gaza’s territory must not be reduced.

“There are certain basic principles that we laid out many months ago,” he said, referring to the outcome of a diplomatic conclave in Tokyo, “that we believe are very important when it comes to the future of Gaza.”

Aaron Bokserman contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Friday that the U.S. government now views new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories as “contrary to international law,” reversing a Trump administration policy and returning to a decades-long U.S. position .

Mr Blinken was speaking at a news conference in Buenos Aires after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made an announcement on Thursday indicating that thousands of new homes would be added to the settlements. Mr Blinken said he was “disappointed” by the announcement.

“It has long been U.S. policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving lasting peace,” he said. “They are contrary to international law. Our government remains firmly opposed to settlement expansion. And in our judgment, this only weakens – it does not strengthen – Israel’s security.”

Mr Blinken was in Argentina for meetings with recently elected President Javier Milei and Secretary of State Diana Mondino.

In Washington, John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, reiterated that position in comments to reporters. “This is a position that has been consistent across a series of Republican and Democratic administrations – if any administration is inconsistent, it was the last one,” he said.

State Department officials declined to say what, if any, actions the United States might take to hold Israeli settlers or the government legally liable for the construction of new settlements.

For many years, the settlements have been spread across the West Bank, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, without the United States pushing for any legal action. About 500,000 residents now live in the occupied West Bank and more than 200,000 in East Jerusalem.

In November 2019, President Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, reversed four decades of US policy by saying the settlements did not violate international law. State Department lawyers never issued a new legal decision supporting this policy change, and Mr. Blinken’s return to the old policy is consistent with a long-standing legal conclusion by the Department.

Beginning in 2021, when President Biden took office, diplomatic reporters asked State Department officials whether Mr. Blinken planned to reverse Mr. Pompeo’s move, but the officials each time said there was no change in policy.

Some State Department officials had grown concerned last year about a sharp increase in violence by extremist settlers. After Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, violence increased in the West Bank, and Mr. Biden and Mr. Blinken began denouncing the actions and settlement expansion.

On Friday afternoon, Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal Jewish American advocacy group that tries to shape policy toward Israel, praised Mr. Blinken’s announcement.

“Now the government must make it clear that, especially in light of the volatility of the current situation between Israelis and Palestinians, there should be no further expansion of the settlement enterprise,” he said in a statement. He added that the Biden administration must demonstrate that it will “take further steps to reinforce its position – and that of the international community – that the creeping annexation of the West Bank must stop.”

Pompeo’s move in 2019 strengthened the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who had vowed to annex the West Bank in two elections that year. Netanyahu’s new governing coalition has several far-right ministers who support this direction, and it is those politicians who have helped Netanyahu stay in power despite widespread criticism of him over his failure to protect Israel from the October 7 attacks. Hamas and its attempts to undermine the power of the judiciary.

On Thursday evening, the office of one of those ministers, Mr. Smotrich, announced that an existing Israeli planning commission to oversee construction in the West Bank would be convened.

He said the committee would move forward with plans for more than 3,000 homes, most of them in Ma’ale Adumim, near the site of a Palestinian shooting earlier the same day. Mr. Smotrich’s office described the settlement expansion as an “appropriate Zionist response” to the attack.

“Let any terrorist who wishes to harm us know that raising a hand against the citizens of Israel will be met with death, destruction and the deepening of our eternal hold on the entire land of Israel,” Mr. Smotrich said in a statement .

Mr. Smotrich’s office did not say when the committee would be convened, whether the housing units would be new homes or what stage of the planning process they were in.

Mr. Blinken also said he would refrain from judging the post-war plan for Gaza that Mr. Netanyahu has begun circulating among Israeli officials. Mr. Blinken said any plan must adhere to three principles: Gaza must not be a base for terrorism; the Israeli government must not reoccupy Gaza; and the size of Gaza’s territory must not be reduced.

“There are certain basic principles that we laid out many months ago,” he said, referring to the outcome of a diplomatic conclave in Tokyo, “that we believe are very important when it comes to the future of Gaza.”

Aaron Bokserman contributed reporting from Jerusalem.