US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says on Tuesday that Hamas had only days to accept a ceasefire deal, as Israel bombarded Gaza City.
"The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen. We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go," Rubio told reporters as he flew out of Israel for mediator Qatar.
Israel heavily bombarded Gaza City after Rubio backed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new offensive.
Rubio showed no daylight between himself and Netanyahu on a visit to Jerusalem on Monday, saying Israel could "count on our unwavering support" for its military push in the devastated Palestinian enclave.
Rubio's trip to Middle Eeast came despite US President Donald Trump chiding Israel a week earlier for carrying out air strikes on Qatar.
‘Gaza is burning'
Hours later, witnesses said there is "heavy, relentless bombing on Gaza City" which levelled homes and left people trapped under the rubble. "We can hear their screams," said 25-year-old resident Ahmed Ghazal.
Israel’s defence minister said Tuesday that “Gaza is burning” after heavy strikes overnight targeted Gaza City.
Defence Minister Israel Katz’s remarks come as Israel has been planning a new offensive targeting Gaza City.
Urgent defence meeting
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders called Monday for an urgent meeting of the Joint Defense Council to be preceded by a session of the Military Committee to assess the situation following Israel’s aggression against Qatar.
During an extraordinary GCC summit in the Qatari capital Doha, held on the sidelines of an emergency Arab-Islamic summit, they stressed that “the continuation of these aggressive policies undermines efforts to achieve peace and the future of existing understandings and agreements with Israel, due to the serious repercussions this carries for the stability of the entire region.”
This came in the final statement of the extraordinary session of the GCC Supreme Council on the Israeli attack against Qatar held in Doha in parallel with the Arab-Islamic summit.
According to the statement, the leaders instructed the GCC Joint Defence Council to convene an urgent meeting in Doha, preceded by a session of the Higher Military Committee.
It explained that the Joint Defence Council meeting aims to “assess the defence posture of the member states and the sources of threat in light of the Israeli aggression against the sisterly State of Qatar and to direct the Unified Military Command to take the necessary executive measures to activate joint defence mechanisms and Gulf deterrence capabilities.”
