Visiting the Middle East, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken insisted Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on “the importance” of sparing Palestinian civilians in his war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Follow the latest information.
“INCREASE THE PRESSURE ON IRAN”
Increasing “pressure on Iran is crucial” and “could prevent a regional escalation” on other fronts of the war in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday during a meeting in Tel- Aviv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Fears of a regional escalation of conflict between Israel and its other enemies, an informal alliance of Iran-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, have been growing since the start of the war in Gaza triggered by attacks by Palestinian Hamas on October 7.
“SPARING” CIVILIANS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the “importance” of sparing Palestinian civilians in his war against the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said the State Department.
During a meeting between the two men in Tel Aviv, Mr. Blinken “reaffirmed our support for Israel’s right to prevent a repeat of the October 7 terrorist attacks, and stressed the importance of avoiding further harm to civilians and (on) protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza,” according to a statement.
BLINKEN IN TEL AVIV
Israel is going through a “very difficult moment” but has “real chances” of integration with its Arab neighbors, said American Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday in Tel Aviv where he is continuing his tour of the Middle East.
“I know the efforts you have made over several years to build much better connections and integration in the Middle East. And I think there are real chances in this area. But we must overcome this very difficult moment,” Blinken said at the start of a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
The top American diplomat is making his fifth official visit to Israel since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, provoked by the bloody attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israeli soil.
NEW REVIEW OF HAMAS
The Hamas Health Ministry announced Tuesday that 23,210 people had been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement and Israel.
In the last 24 hours, 126 people have been killed, according to this new report, which also shows 59,167 people injured since October 7. The majority of people who died or were killed are women, adolescents and children.
HEZBOLLAH
Lebanese Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an Israeli army command center in the north of the country on Tuesday, in response to the elimination of the number two of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and a senior military official from its formation.
The Lebanese Islamist movement said in a statement that it had targeted “the command center of the northern region of the Israeli army” using “several suicide drones”, in “response” to the elimination on January 2 of the number two from Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, and that of its leader, Wissam Tawil, killed the day before.
GAZA
The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, on Tuesday called on Muslim countries to “support” him in his war against Israel in the Gaza Strip by providing him with “weapons”.
“The role of the Muslim nation (…) is major” and “the time has come to support the resistance with weapons, because it is the battle of Al-Aqsa and not only the battle of the Palestinian people “, according to a speech delivered in Doha, the text of which was transmitted to the media in the Gaza Strip. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam.
“GENOCIDE”
Israel and South Africa face off on Thursday before the UN’s highest court, after Pretoria accused Israel of “genocidal acts” in Gaza, accusations described by the Israelis as “blood libel”.
In an 84-page petition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague, South Africa urges judges to urgently order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations” in the Strip. Gaza. Pretoria believes that Israel “has engaged, is engaged in and risks continuing to engage in acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Israel reacted vehemently to the remarks, described as an “absurd blood libel” by government spokesperson Eylon Levy.
WE TAKE STOCK
Here are the latest events to remember about the war between Israel and Hamas:
◾ The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is to meet with Israeli leaders today and press for a de-escalation of the war in Gaza, a day after strikes in Syria and Lebanon that killed two senior Hamas and Hezbollah.
◾ Sirens warning of rocket fire sounded yesterday in central and southern Israel, as well as near the border with Lebanon, where Israeli strikes and exchanges of fire with Hezbollah militants supported by Iran raise fears of an extension of the conflict towards the north.
◾ Hezbollah announced Monday the death of one of its “commanders”, Wissam Hassan Tawil, in an Israeli strike, which constitutes a first since October for this movement. This raid comes after the death of Hamas number two, Saleh al-Arouri, in a strike in Lebanon in early January.
◾ Yesterday, the Israeli army also indicated that it had killed a “central figure” of Hamas in Syria, Hassan Akasha. “He was a central figure responsible for rockets fired towards Israel by Hamas from Syrian territory in recent weeks,” the army said.
◾ International organizations are warning of the ongoing health disaster, with humanitarian aid arriving in trickles, despite a UN Security Council resolution. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the United States, yesterday joined Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem in condemning an “overt policy” of famine in Gaza led by Israel.
◾ Israel and South Africa face off today before the UN’s highest court, after Pretoria accused Israel of “genocidal acts” in Gaza, accusations described by the Israelis as “blood libel”.
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the war between Israel and Hamas. Find the latest information here.
US President Joe Biden said on Monday he was working “discreetly” so that Israel “significantly reduced” its presence in the Palestinian territory where the war has entered its fourth month.
According to American officials, Mr. Blinken’s trip to Israel, which began Monday evening, aims to press the Jewish state to enter a new military phase less costly in Palestinian lives, and to initiate a dialogue in the region on post-war. Antony Blinken, touring the region for the fourth time since the start of the war on October 7, also hopes to prevent a rise in tension in the region, particularly on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The Israeli army announced on Monday that it had killed a “central figure” of Hamas in Syria, responsible for firing rockets at Israel from Syrian territory, in a rare statement on its operations in Syria. Hassan Akasha was killed in Beit Jinn, the army said, a Syrian town close to the Syrian Golan, occupied by Israel, and the Lebanese border, located in a region under the control of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
On Monday, a Hezbollah military official was killed about ten kilometers from the border with Israel. According to Hezbollah, this is the “Commander Wissam Hassan Tawil”the highest military official of this formation killed since it opened a front with Israel to support Palestinian Hamas.
The same day, the Israeli army struck Khan Younes, the main city in southern Gaza and the new epicenter of the fighting, killing “ten terrorists preparing to fire rockets at Israel”. In the morning, a strike in Rafah, at the southern tip of Gaza, destroyed a car from which rescuers and residents were extracting bodies, according to AFPTV, which also reported rocket fire from the south of the Gaza Strip towards from central Israel.
Two journalists, Moustafa Thuraya and Hamza Waël Dahdouh, working for Al Jazeera were killed there on Sunday by an Israeli strike on their vehicle, according to the Qatari channel. A third journalist on board, Hazem Rajab, was seriously injured. The Israeli army took responsibility for the shooting, telling AFP it had “hit a terrorist who was piloting a flying device representing a threat to the troops”and be “aware of information according to which, during the strike, two other suspects who were in the same vehicle were also hit”.
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VIDEO – Three months of war between Israel and Hamas
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, a movement classified as terrorist by the United States and the European Union, after its unprecedented attack on its territory on October 7, which killed around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by the ‘AFP based on the Israeli assessment.
Around 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, including around 100 released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a truce in late November. In total, 132 are still held hostage by different Palestinian armed groups. On Monday, Islamic Jihad released a video of a living Israeli hostage.