by Agency Writers
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to return to the Middle East today on his fourth trip since the Israel-Hamas war, expecting tough talks as he presses for immediate new aid for battered Gaza and de-escalation in the region.
The top US diplomat will visit both Israel and the West Bank, home of the Palestinian Authority, and five Arab countries — Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.
Mr Blinken was leave late Thursday US time and first was to go to Turkey — an uneasy US ally which is the home of key Hamas leaders despite being one of the few Muslim-majority countries to recognize Israel — followed by Greece.
Mr Blinken will discuss “immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” where the World Health Organisation has warned of the risk of famine and disease.
“We don’t expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head on,” he said.
Mr Blinken on previous trips sought to keep the war isolated to Gaza. But he returns to a region that has seen attacks in or from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Iran.
Israel on Tuesday carried out a strike inside Lebanon that killed a top Hamas leader, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been firing on ships in the Red Sea in avowed solidarity with Gaza.
– AFP
Three Israelis missing now said to be hostages
by Agency Writers
Three Israelis who were considered missing since the October 7 attacks by Hamas are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced.
“Three citizens who were considered missing are now recognised as hostages and their families have been informed,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.
This brings to 132 the number of people held hostage by militants in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks, according to figures provided by Israeli officials.
On October 7 Hamas militants carried out a wave of deadly attacks on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.
Some 250 people were also taken hostage during the attack, 100 of whom have since been freed.
– AFP
US strike kills Iran-backed militia leader in Iraq
by Staff Writers
An American airstrike has killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad, raising concern that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread to multiple fronts and pull in the US into a more direct confrontation as American forces come under increased attack.
A US official said Washington conducted a “precision strike” on a vehicle travelling in eastern Baghdad, targeting a member of the Harakat al Nujaba group that the US has been tracking.
The group is designated by the US as a terrorist organisation. The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The person targeted “had American blood on his hands”, another US official said.
Harakat al Nujaba said in a statement on its Telegram channel that Moshtaq Talib Al-Saadi had been unjustly killed by US aggression.
Iraq’s government said that the attack was a blatant violation of Iraq’s security and sovereignty and “undermines all agreements between Iraqi forces and coalition forces in Iraq”.
“We view this action as a dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq, diverging from the spirit and the text of the mandate and the mission for which the Global Coalition was established in Iraq,” said Yehia Rasool, spokesman for the Iraqi military.
US forces in Iraq have come under a wave of attacks by Iran-backed militias in recent months. Since mid-October, there have been at least 115 attacks on US and allied forces in Syria and Iraq, with many of them claimed by Iran-backed militants.
– Wall Street Journal