US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Israeli leaders to take more significant steps to protect civilians, allow more aid to Gaza and cooperate with moderate Palestinian leaders.
Even as Blinken spoke, fierce fighting was taking place in southern and central Gaza. Israeli forces and Hezbollah extremists also exchanged fire on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
At the press conference, the top American diplomat said that the cost of war is too high for civilians, especially children, but also assessed that the South African Republic's lawsuit against Israel for genocide is unfounded. He emphasized that America wants the war to end as soon as possible, but that it is crucial that Israel achieves its goal in order not to repeat October 7, when Hamas attacked the south of the country.
Blinken said that it is "crystal clear" that Palestinians must be allowed to return home "as soon as the conditions are created" and warned that America rejects proposals to resettle them outside of Gaza. He stressed that the Palestinian Authority has an obligation to reform and called on Israel to work with moderate Palestinian leaders on plans for a post-war Gaza.
"Israel must stop taking steps that undermine the Palestinians' ability to govern effectively. Israel must partner with Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people and live in peace with Israel," Blinken said.
He also stated that Arab leaders across the region are ready to help rebuild Gaza, but only "through a regional approach that includes a path to a Palestinian state."
Blinken is on his fourth visit to the Middle East since the Hamas-Israeli war broke out in October, and he spoke with Israeli officials at a time when international concern is growing over the high number of Palestinian casualties in Israeli attacks on the densely populated enclave.
Defense Minister Yoav Galan told Blinken that the Israeli offensive in the southern area of Khan Yunis "will intensify and continue until the leaders of Hamas are found and the Israeli hostages return home," the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
Blinken, who toured Israel's Arab neighbors to discuss plans for the future governance of Gaza and integration in the Middle East, said earlier that during the meetings they would discuss "the way forward" in the war.
Blinken met "one-on-one" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kirja military base in Tel Aviv and then with the war cabinet formed after the October 7 attack by the Palestinian extremist movement Hamas that killed 1.200 and kidnapped 240 people. In response, Israel launched an air and ground attack on Gaza, killing more than 23.000 Palestinians so far, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry.
Reiterating the Biden administration's support for Israel's right to prevent repeat attacks, Blinken "stressed the importance of avoiding further harm to civilians and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
In addition to trying to reduce regional tensions, the top US diplomat discussed plans for the future administration of Gaza, which could include Israel's Muslim-majority neighbors.
Blinken earlier said in Saudi Arabia on Monday that regional states want integration with Israel, but only if plans to normalize relations include a "practical path" to a future Palestinian state.
Asked about US-led talks to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Blinken said there was a "clear interest" in Saudi Arabia, as well as in the region, to achieve that goal, but "that will require an end to the conflict in Gaza , and will also clearly require that there be a practical path to a Palestinian state".
Saudi Arabia has paused diplomatic talks on normalizing relations with Israel amid a military standoff between Hamas and Israeli forces.
Blinken previously met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Israel Katz. He told Katz that there are opportunities for regional integration and connectivity, "but we have to go through this very challenging moment."
Herzog thanked the United States for "constantly standing by Israel" and said the war against Hamas is a war that "affects international values and the values of the free world."
Herzog also rejected a lawsuit filed at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, calling it "cruel and senseless."
Hearings in the case are due to begin on Thursday, and Herzog said Israel would "proudly present its case for the use of self-defense in accordance with its most inherent right under international humanitarian law."
In meetings with Netanyahu, Blinken "reiterated the need to secure a lasting, sustainable peace for Israel and the region, including the creation of a Palestinian state," Miller said.
Blinken was also to meet with the families of hostages taken by Hamas and discuss "relentless efforts" to bring them back.
Several dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel where Blinken was holding meetings and called for a ceasefire to secure the release of the hostages.
(Voice of America)
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Israeli President Isaac Herzog will participate next Sunday in the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the war between Israel and Hamas will be one of the main topics, the organizers announced today.
Among the more than 60 heads of state and government at the forum will be the presidents of France and Argentina, Emmanuel Macron and Javier Miley, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has addressed leaders via video message in the past, will deliver a "special speech" and meet with business leaders.
The prime ministers of Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan, Najib Mikati, Mohamed bin Abdelrahmane and Bisher al-Hasavneh are also expected.
The forum will be held in Davos, in the Swiss Alps from January 15 to 19.
The conflict in the Middle East will be high on the agenda, as well as the war in Ukraine, trade conflicts and the state of the world economy, faced with inflation and the risk of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea.
This year's meeting in Davos will gather more than 2.800 participants, including more than 800 business leaders, central bankers and representatives of international organizations.
Forum President Borge Brende stated that the Forum will be held "in the most complex geopolitical and economic context in the last few decades".
"The war in Gaza continues and there is a fear of escalation. We will gather key figures to see how to avoid further deterioration of the situation and look to the future," said Brende.
(BETA)
Six Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in the central part of the Gaza Strip, while three were killed during intense fighting in the south of the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli army announced.
As specified, six reservists, all part of the engineering, were killed when the explosives intended to destroy the tunnels built by Hamas in the Al Bureij refugee camp, in the central part of the Gaza Strip, detonated unplanned, reports Reuters.
In the same explosion, several people were injured, some of them seriously.
The airline "Air France" will resume flights to Israel from January 24, the company's spokeswoman said, specifying that Air France will operate three weekly flights from Paris to Tel Aviv with an Airbus A350, reports Reuters.
Foreign carriers suspended flights to Israel when the country went to war with Palestinian Hamas on October 7 last year, but are gradually returning.
Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines and Austrian Airlines resumed flights to Israel this Sunday.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today and confirmed that Israel has US support to prevent new attacks on the country.
Blinken added that he stressed to Netanyahu the importance of avoiding civilian harm, protecting civilian infrastructure and ensuring the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in Israel after a visit to Arab capitals that he sees opportunities for building closer ties in the region after the end of the crisis in Gaza.
"I know of your efforts, over many years, to build much greater connectivity and integration in the Middle East, and I think there are actually real opportunities there," Blinken said in a conversation with Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, Reuters reports.
"But we have to get through this very challenging moment and ensure that October 7th does not happen again and work to build a much different and much better future," Blinken said, referring to the cross-border attack by Hamas.
A total of 23.210 Palestinians have been killed and 59.167 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
As it is added, about 126 Palestinians were killed and 241 wounded in the previous 24 hours, reports Reuters.
The coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency medical team, Sean Casey, said today that the intensity of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is not decreasing.
Casey decried severe food shortages in the north and said some health workers were now fleeing in fear for their lives after enduring months of treating patients.
"I've been in Gaza for five weeks. I haven't seen the intensity of the conflict decrease. I went to the Nasser Medical Complex a few days ago and saw multiple explosions just a few minutes' drive away," Casey said via video link at a UN briefing, speaking from Rafah. in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Dr Rick Piperkorn, the WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, said in Jerusalem that in addition to more than 23.000 killed, nearly 59.000 were wounded in Gaza and that there were many cases of spinal trauma, crushing, severe burns, amputations that he had never seen before, adding that the great number of the most serious injuries among children.
"It's going to have such long-lasting effects on everybody," Piperkorn said.
The humanitarian office of the UN has warned that the strengthening of the Israeli offensive in central and southern Gaza has had "devastating consequences", that the number of civilian casualties has increased, aid operations in the central region have been seriously hampered and that three major hospitals are in danger of being closed.
(BETA)
The Israeli army announced that nine more soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of their military casualties in the Palestinian territory to 187.
Earlier today, it was said that four soldiers were killed, and the new balance was announced after the families of the victims were informed.
The agencies state that the latest victims were members of engineering units operating in the south and central part of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media subsequently announced that nine engineers were killed in an explosion in Bureij, in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
The explosion occurred near where officers had brought reporters to see a Hamas rocket-making facility.
The Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo last night, which is considered a hint that indirect negotiations on the release of hostages held in Gaza are continuing, Israeli media reported today.
Meanwhile, some of the families of the Israeli hostages gathered to protest at the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza.
They planned to draw attention to the more than 130 people who are still being held after being abducted from southern Israel on October 7.
Shai Venkert, the father of the 22-year-old who was detained, said that the protesters at the crossing would prevent the delivery of goods and medicine to the Gaza Strip.
However, the police stopped the convoy of vehicles with the families of the hostages on the way to the crossing so that it would not enter the closed military zone.
"It's time to end this joke. They will go back in 136 coffins," said Ajala Metzger, cousin of Joram and Tami Metzger, elderly detainees.
(BETA)
Three members of Hezbollah were killed today in a targeted Israeli attack on their vehicle in the city of Ghandurieh in southern Lebanon, two sources familiar with the organization's operations told the news agencies.
The same sources did not immediately identify those killed.
The Israeli military killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an attack in southern Lebanon on Monday.
Israel has not officially commented on the operation, only Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz told TV Channel 14 last night that the country is behind it.
(BETA)
Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians in the northern West Bank in the latest escalation of violence in the occupied territory.
A joint statement by the Israeli police and the Shin Bet security service stated that the Palestinians were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces, which occurred late last night during an arrest in the village of Iktaba.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the deaths of three men, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the ruling Fatah party, identified them as its members.
Iktaba is next to the town of Tulkarm, the scene of fierce clashes in recent months, according to the Associated Press.
After the latest violence, videos were posted on social networks showing Palestinians being killed at close range, reports the British Guardian.
According to reports, such videos cannot be verified, and they show soldiers continuing to shoot at a wounded Palestinian, who is lying on the ground, and an Israeli armored vehicle passing over the body of one of the killed.
Violence has intensified in the West Bank since October 7, when Israel's war against Hamas, which rules another Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, began.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health states that 337 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during that time.
(BETA)
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived late last night in Israel where he will meet today with Israeli leaders and officials and ask them to better protect civilians and allow more aid as the war in Gaza moves into a new phase.
Blinken met Monday in the Saudi Arabian city of Al Uli with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of a Middle East tour aimed at building consensus on the future of Gaza.
He said key Arab countries and Turkey had agreed to begin planning for the reconstruction and governance of Gaza once Israel's war against Hamas ends.
Blinken also said that the countries agreed to use their influence to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading into a larger Middle East conflict and negative consequences for international trade and the global economy.
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey agreed to work together and "coordinate efforts to enable Gaza to stabilize and recover, to prepare a political path for the Palestinians and work towards long-term peace, security and stability of the region as a whole." , the US Secretary of State said, but did not specify what their individual contribution would be.
He added that the Saudis and other Arab leaders are still interested in normalizing relations with Israel, but only on the basis of a sustainable Israeli-Palestinian political solution.
During his fourth visit to the Middle East in three months, Blinken will try to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to, among other things, begin serious negotiations on post-war Gaza.
The US Secretary of State added that the administration of US President Joseph Biden is also focused on the return of the remaining American and Israeli hostages in Gaza, the agencies reported.
The US has supported Israel since the start of the war against Hamas, but Netanyahu has drawn ire in Washington by rejecting any detailed public plan for managing Gaza once Israel's military offensive ends, as well as the US option of creating a single Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank. and the Gaza Strip.
(BETA)
Israel's military has begun a new and less intense phase of its invasion of Gaza, chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, following prolonged pressure from the US and other allies to scale back the offensive that has caused widespread destruction and civilian deaths.
Rear-Admiral Hagari said that during that phase, fewer ground forces would be involved and there would be fewer air strikes.
He announced that Israel would continue to reduce the number of troops in Gaza, a process that began in December.
Hagari, hinting that Israel has degraded the military capabilities of Hamas in the north of Gaza, told the New York Times that the army will now focus on the organization's strongholds in the south and central part of the Palestinian territory, especially around the cities of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah.
He also announced that Israel aims to facilitate the delivery of more humanitarian aid, including tents to displace people in Gaza.
The spokesman said this ahead of the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Israel, as part of a tour in the region aimed at preventing the Gaza war from escalating into a regional war.
It is unclear, however, whether the new phase of the Israeli offensive will be less dangerous for Palestinian civilians.
Health officials in Gaza continue to report dozens of deaths in daily airstrikes.
On Monday, it was announced that 247 people had been killed the night before, the highest number killed in one day since the war began.
Israeli forces bombed Khan Yunis and central Gaza during clashes in those areas, residents said.
(BETA)
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