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Israel will need another few days to complete Gaza operation - Axios

The portal indicated that "the call between Blinken and Ashkenazi was part of the intensifying diplomatic squeeze to move toward a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel is still fending off for now"

WASHINGTON, May 20. /TASS/. Israel will need several another few days to complete the military operation against Palestinian radicals, despite the US demand to end it as soon as possible, the Axios news portal reported on Wednesday, citing sources in the Israeli government.

According to them, in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said that Israel "needs another few days to complete its Gaza operation."

In turn, the US Secretary of State stressed that Washington expects "the operation to end soon." Ashkenazi added that Israel "still has several military goals" in Gaza.

Blinken also told his Israeli counterpart that the US was blocking a French initiative at the UN Security Council on Gaza, but cannot keep backing Israel publicly and diplomatically, mainly at the UN, for much longer," the sources told the portal.

Axios indicated that "the call between Blinken and Ashkenazi was part of the intensifying diplomatic squeeze to move toward a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel is still fending off for now."

On Wednesday, Fatah Central Committee Executive Secretary Jibril Rajoub said that a ceasefire agreement between Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel may be reached within 24 hours.

The Palestinian radical groups located in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army have been exchanging strikes since May 10. The escalation was sparked by the clashes at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem in early May, after the Israeli court had ruled to evict Arab families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. According to updates of the Palestinian health ministry, the death toll surpassed 250. Of those, 227 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, including over 60 children and over 30 women. At least 12 Israelis have been killed so far as well.

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