US, UK forces shoot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Houthis
No injuries or damage reported in what the US military said was the 26th attack by the Yemen-based group since November 19. The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has said it shot down 18 drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the southern Red Sea, the armed group’s 26th attack on international shipping lanes in the last seven weeks. Working with forces from the United Kingdom, CENTCOM said two anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile were also brought down. “Iranian-backed Huthis launched a complex attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs… anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday. The attack was the 26th by the Houthis on shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November 19 when it hijacked the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier that was on its way from Turkey to India. The Iran-aligned group said it began the attacks in protest at Israel’s war on Gaza. CENTCOM said fighter jets from the Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier and four destroyers, including one from the UK, took part in the operation. No injuries or damage were reported. The US last month formed an international maritime coalition to deal with the attacks, which have prompted some shipping lines to take the longer sea route around southern Africa and avoid the Red Sea altogether. The Houthis have said they will continue their attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza. CENTCOM said US forces shot down a drone launched from Yemen over the weekend, while Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US naval forces in the Middle East, said the Houthis had launched an explosives-laden sea drone into shipping lanes last week – the first time they had used such a weapon in the current conflict. The Houthis say they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels but Cooper said dozens of countries have connections to ships that have been attacked. At the time of its hijack, the Galaxy Leader – although ultimately owned by a firm linked to an Israeli businessman – was being operated by the Japanese shipping line NYK and most of its 25-strong crew were from the Philippines. Other vessels have had no discernible links to Israel. The war in Gaza erupted on October 7 when armed group Hamas carried out a shock cross-border attack and killed 1,139 people in Israel. At least 23,210 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its assault hours later. Adblock test (Why?)
US, Ukraine, dozens more condemn alleged Russia-North Korea arms transfers
Foreign ministers of nearly 50 countries say such activities breach UN sanctions on North Korea. Dozens of countries have joined Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States in condemning alleged ballistic missile transfers between North Korea and Russia, which they said were in breach of United Nations sanctions. In a joint statement, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers from some 47 countries including Argentina, Australia, Guatemala, Japan and South Korea, condemned the alleged arms transfers in the “strongest possible terms”, saying the weapons had been used against Ukraine on December 30 and January 2. “The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression and undermines the global non-proliferation regime,” Wednesday’s statement said, noting such cooperation would also provide technical and military insights to North Korea. “We are deeply concerned about the security implications that this cooperation has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world,” it said. The remains of a suspected North Korean missile that was fired at Kharkiv last week [Sergey Bobok/AFP] In a briefing earlier, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia had since used more North Korean weapons in Ukraine, including one that landed in Kharkiv, the country’s second biggest city. The US and its allies plan to raise the issue with the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday, he added. The statement added that weapons procurement and supply between Pyongyang and Moscow was in breach of multiple UNSC resolutions imposed from 2006 in response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment when asked about the alleged weapons transfers. ‘Most hostile’ Reports emerged as early as 2022 that Russia was planning to buy weapons from North Korea for use in its invasion of Ukraine. In August last year, the US’s United Nations envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the organisation that Moscow was negotiating “potential deals for significant quantities and multiple types of munitions”. Speculation intensified when the countries’ two leaders held a summit the following month at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s most important satellite launch centre. Over some five hours, Vladimir Putin showed Kim Jong Un around the site in eastern Russia and said Moscow would help Pyongyang build satellites. Kim promised support for what he said was Russia’s “just fight”, in a comment that was viewed as being a reference to Ukraine. Kim later toured Russian weapons factories and was shown the country’s latest military equipment. Just two months later, North Korea announced the successful launch of its first military spy satellite, following the failure of two earlier attempts in May and August. It has said it plans to launch three more this year. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday that Kim was this week visiting arms factories where he emphasised the “strategic importance of the production of major weapons”. Kim also said the time has come to define South Korea as a state “most hostile” towards his country, according to the KCNA. He accused Seoul of inciting confrontation and an arms buildup while urging his country to step up its military capabilities for self-defence and its nuclear war deterrent. He described worsening relations on the divided peninsula as a “new phase of change” and “unavoidable reality”. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Still waiting’: Myanmar’s Kayah looks for justice over military killings
Kayah State, Myanmar – On December 28, in his clinic in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State, Dr Oak wrapped up a routine check on a pregnant woman and removed some non-threatening shrapnel from the leg of a resistance fighter. Exactly two years earlier, he was living a nightmare, examining the charred remains of 33 civilians brutally killed by the Myanmar military. “Before, when I was working in the hospital, I might see one or two bodies at a time. But when I saw that many bodies at once, and understood the cruelty of the way the military killed them, I felt devastated and terrified,” he told Al Jazeera. “I felt so sorry for their family members because they can’t even identify their loved ones and say a proper goodbye.” Dr Oak, who asked to be identified by a nickname to protect his family, has been living in Kayah State since December 15, 2021. After the military seized power in a coup in February of that year, he quit his job at a government hospital in his native Ayeyarwady Region and joined a mass strike of civil servants known as the Civil Disobedience Movement. After a few months of participating in street protests and then hiding in safe houses in Ayeyarwady and Yangon, he headed to Kayah intending to join the burgeoning armed resistance. “In the beginning, I was planning to get a gun and fight. I just wanted to fight the military so badly. But when I arrived here, they already had so many soldiers but they really needed doctors. So I realised this was the best way for me to help,” he said. Dr Oak said he was unable to determine the sex of two of the victims because the bodies were so badly burned [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera] The victims Dr Oak examined that day were killed in Moso village in the Hpruso Township, in what was dubbed the Christmas Eve Massacre after the military stopped several vehicles travelling along a major road connecting the towns of Hpruso and Demoso, allegedly detaining, executing and burning those inside. Some of those killed were reportedly fleeing from nearby clashes, while others lived in the area. ‘I am still waiting’ Much of Kaya’s population is Roman Catholic and Christmas is the most important day of the year. But Khin Lone’s family was so poor that her husband could not afford to take Christmas Eve off. He accepted a job to help a farmer harvest bamboo shoots that day, a task that would typically pay about 5,000 kyat – less than $3. She never saw him again. Soon after her husband had left for work, Khine Lone’s neighbours came running through the village, screaming that the military was coming. But with four children, including a 10-month-old baby, it was difficult for Khin Lone to leave on her own. “I called him and he answered the phone and said, ‘OK, I’m coming soon,’ so I stayed at home waiting for him,” she said. “I’m still waiting for him.” Eventually, other villagers came to help and Khin Lone and her children escaped into the forest, where they hid for two days before moving to a camp for internally displaced people where they remain today. The 35-year-old widow has only been back to Moso once since the killings – on December 24 last year when she left flowers on the burned-out wreckage of the now-rusting cars and prayed for the dead. It is a risky journey. The site of the killings lies in a no man’s zone, just 8km (5 miles) from where the military remains holed up in Hpruso town but also a few kilometres from the last resistance-manned checkpoint. Still, the situation represents a dramatic shift in the Myanmar conflict over the past two years, with resistance groups able to freely navigate rural parts of Hpruso and the neighbouring Demoso Township, while the military is largely confined to a few towns and military bases. Khin Lone finds it painful to talk about what happened to her husband but hopes speaking out will bring justice [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera] Moso now represents the outer limit of the military’s reach in Hpruso and the killing a final spasm of violence before it lost control. A logistics officer from the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), an armed group formed after the coup, said resistance groups had long used the major road on the other side of Moso village to transport goods and troops. He said the military might have attacked the village to punish them for supporting the resistance. For decades, the military has been accused of using collective punishment against civilian communities – known as “four cuts” – as part of its campaigns against ethnic armed groups. Military-controlled media did not acknowledge any civilian casualties and claimed that the convoy included resistance fighters who opened fire first. Khin Lone recalled that for the first two days, the other villagers were too afraid to tell her what she already knew in her heart and sought to reassure her that her husband might still be alive. “In my mind, I already knew it was impossible but then I turned around and lied to my children and said he is working somewhere else and will come back soon,” she said. ‘I ran’ Nwe Lay was more fortunate. At the time of the attack, he was a member of a military-aligned Border Guard Force (BGF) called the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF). Starting in 2009, the military demanded that ethnic armed groups submit to its chain of command as BGFs. Those that complied, like the KNPLF, were rewarded with lucrative business deals; those that refused faced new military offensives. Nwe Lay was also a farmer and on the day of the killings, he was on his way to check on his herd of cows and buffaloes. “I saw soldiers and they just started shooting at me right away, so I ran,” he said, catching a glimpse of what was unfolding
‘Political games’: Advocates vow to fight US border policy standoff
Washington, DC – Military aid for Ukraine in exchange for stricter migration and asylum policies: That is the gambit put forward by Republicans in the United States Congress as they negotiate with Democrats over government spending. But the prospect of tighter border restrictions has prompted concern among advocates, particularly as some leading Democrats seem poised to compromise. On Tuesday, demonstrators from dozens of advocacy groups gathered near the US Capitol for a “Save Asylum” campaign, where they appealed to lawmakers not to sacrifice asylum protections as part of any spending deal. “We are here today demanding, lifting our voice, and continuing the fight to ensure that a couple of senators do not implement behind closed doors things [that] will affect our community,” said Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, an organiser with the national immigration group CASA. “We are going to lift our voices united to ensure that they do not look at us as just statistics to play political games,” she continued. “Real lives are on the line.” Top Democrats and the White House have already signalled they are willing to make concessions on immigration in return for a long-sought $110bn aid package. That deal would include military aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as other security spending. Talks between Republican and Democratic senators, however, failed to reach a breakthrough before Congress adjourned last year for its holiday break. Asylum advocates rally in Washington, DC, amid fears of increased restrictions at the US border [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera] With legislators returning to work this week, asylum rights supporters have vowed a flurry of advocacy work to bring awareness to the ongoing negotiations — and the stakes they entail. Tuesday’s event, held in Washington’s Reformation Lutheran Church, brought together 200 demonstrators, some of whom held signs that read “Save asylum” and “Don’t deport our families”. “Senator Schumer, we see you, but it appears you do not see us,” Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Council said, speaking as if to Senate majority leader himself. “Do good by us, or we will be holding you and everyone else accountable,” he added. ‘Trump border plan, plain and simple’ Addressing the crowd on Tuesday, Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, acknowledged that there has not yet been “anything in writing” in terms of official proposals from the negotiations. Still, he added, what was emerging from the closed-door discussions had given him cause for alarm. “Republicans in Congress are seeking to double down on the failed Trump policies,” he said, referencing former Republican President Donald Trump. “What this deal is sounding like is a page out of the Trump border plan, plain and simple.” The Associated Press (AP) news agency, citing people familiar with the negotiations, reported that humanitarian parole was a sticking point in the bipartisan meetings. Humanitarian parole is a mechanism that allows US Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant temporary legal admission to the US. In 2023, the White House announced it would expand its humanitarian parole programme to accept up to 30,000 applicants per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. That plan was part of a wider strategy the Biden administration said would increase legal pathways to enter the US, while strengthening penalties for irregular crossings at the southern border. But while the Biden administration initially saw a decline in irregular border crossings after the announcement, the overall number has since shot upwards. The US Customs and Border Protection agency documented a record 2,475,669 irregular “encounters” for its 2023 fiscal year, and officials in communities like Eagle Pass, Texas, reported struggling to accommodate the influx of arrivals. Republican officials, as well as some Democrats, have used the heightened numbers to push the federal government for more action. Congressional negotiators reportedly agreed to make asylum interviews more restrictive and allow authorities to quickly expel those crossing the border without humanitarian screenings in periods of increased crossings. However, they have not been able to agree on the number of crossings that would trigger such a policy, according to the AP. The news agency previously reported that other proposals included making it easier to deport migrants who have been in the US for fewer than two years, even if they reside far from the border, and detaining and electronically monitoring families crossing the border. Both tactics, critics fear, would represent a return to hardline Trump-era practices. Speaking at the rally on Tuesday, advocates and elected officials warned the situation was particularly dire because the strict measures Congress members were weighing could end up codified in law. That would make them harder to challenge than policies solely put in place by the executive branch. Senator Mazie Hirono said Republicans were holding aid to the US allies “hostage” to demand “negative, really bad changes that they want to make to the immigration system”. “And my concern is that they are really setting the stage for getting what they want,” she said. ‘Asylum saves lives’ The presidential and congressional elections in November loom large over the immigration fight in Congress. Recently, Republicans in the House of Representatives launched impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of failing to enforce laws at the border. Speaking in Texas this week, Mayorkas defended his record. From June to July of last year, he said his agency “removed or returned more noncitizens without a basis to remain in the United States than any other five-month period in the last 10 years”. But while Republicans and some Democrats want stricter border restrictions, some politicians — particularly on the left — are wary of more heavy-handed policies. Biden has already faced criticism from within his own Democratic Party for a raft of measures meant to curb southern border crossings by limiting those eligible to make asylum claims. One rule broadly disqualified people from seeking asylum in the US if they crossed through a third country where they could seek asylum or otherwise “circumvent available, established pathways to lawful migration”. Asylum seekers are taken into custody by officials at the Texas-Mexico border
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 686
As the war enters its 686th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Fighting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would do everything it could to halt Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod as Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had brought down 10 rockets fired at the Russian border city in an attack that injured three. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from Belgorod since an attack last month that killed more than 20 civilians. One person was killed in Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Kursk region near the border, while three people were injured after drones struck a fuel facility in the neighbouring region of Oryol, according to the governors of the two regions. One person was killed in Ukrainian shelling of Horlivka in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donetsk region, according to the town’s Russian-installed mayor. At least 520 children have been killed and nearly 1,200 injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, according to the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General. A body was found in the ruins of a Kyiv warehouse destroyed in Russia’s December 29 missile attack on the Ukrainian capital, bringing the number of deaths in the bombardment to 33. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu assured security officials that his forces were in control along the roughly 1,500km (930-mile) front line, which has been largely static over the past year despite fierce fighting. “We retain the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact,” Shoigu said, accusing the United States of pressuring Ukraine to keep fighting against Russia. He claimed that Ukraine lost 215,000 soldiers in the fighting last year. Politics and diplomacy A secret meeting took place last month in Saudi Arabia between Ukraine, its Group of Seven (G7) allies and a small group of Global South countries to build support for Kyiv’s peace plan, according to Bloomberg News. The report, citing people familiar with the situation, said China chose not to attend and Russia was not invited. Russia’s Interior Ministry put exiled Russian tycoon and opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky on its wanted list, accusing him of spreading false information about the Russian army, according to Russian state news agency TASS. London-based Khodorkovsky has been a vocal critic of the war in Ukraine The Italian city of Modena blocked the use of a public hall to host a private event on the reconstruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is under Russian occupation, saying it appeared to openly support Russia’s invasion. The event was organised by the Russia Emilia-Romagna cultural association and panellists included the Russian consul general in Milan, Dmitry Shtodin, according to the organisers’ website. Weapons A group of 48 countries, including Argentina, Australia and the US condemned “in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024”. Such transfers breached United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea, they added in a joint statement. The Kremlin’s Peskov declined to comment on the US and Ukrainian allegations. Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told national television that Russia’s recent escalation of missile and drone attacks was stretching Ukraine’s air defence resources, leaving the country vulnerable unless it could secure further weapons supplies. Russia fired more than 500 drones and missiles between December 29 and January 2, according to officials in Kyiv. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said an internal audit of the ministry had so far uncovered corruption schemes estimated at more than $262m, including over the purchase of ammunition. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were “clear signs of a slowdown” in the activities of Russia’s defence industry and called for further action to eliminate loopholes in sanctions against Moscow. Zelenskyy did not provide evidence for his claim. Adblock test (Why?)
British FM ‘worried’ Israel may have breached international law in Gaza
David Cameron spoke to a parliamentary committee about whether Israel was ‘vulnerable to a challenge’ from the ICC. British Foreign Minister David Cameron has said he is worried that Israel’s war on Gaza may have included breaches of international law, and while the advice he received so far was that Israel was compliant, there were questions to answer. Speaking to the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Cameron said some of what he had seen during the war in the besieged Palestinian territory was “deeply concerning”. Asked during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers if Israel could be “vulnerable to a challenge” from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague over whether its actions were proportionate, Cameron said the stance was “close to that”. While the former prime minister did not directly answer questions about whether he had received legal advice that Israel might have broken the law, he said some incidents had raised questions over whether there had been breaches. “Am I worried that Israel has taken action that might be in breach of international law because this particular premises has been bombed, or whatever? Yes, of course,” Cameron said. He added that there was always a “question mark” over whether a given incident had broken international law, which lawyers would examine and advise him over. “The advice has been so far that they [Israel] have the commitment, the capability and the compliance [with international law], but on lots of occasions, that is under question,” he said. The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its support for Israel multiple times and backed its right to defend itself against Hamas, but has also called on the Israeli military to show restraint and act within international law in its offensive in Gaza. The Foreign Affairs Committee scrutinises the work of the UK’s foreign ministry, to which Cameron was appointed late last year. During Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, at least 23,210 people have been killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry, and most homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed. Cameron, who sits in the parliament’s upper chamber as an unelected minister, said it would take “a giant effort” to rebuild Gaza due to the level of destruction being so “great”. “We’re going to need as many people as possible. It will take more than any one country to do it,” he said. He also said that he had seen figures that show Hamas fighters had lost “over 50 percent of their capability and capacity” to fire rockets into Israel. Amid growing concern over the Gaza death toll and the South Africa genocide case against Israel, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israeli leaders on Tuesday to avoid future harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure. Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken says US wants to see end to Israel-Gaza war
NewsFeed “We want this war to end as soon as possible.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to reporters following his meetings with Israeli leaders and other regional leaders who all share concerns about the Israel-Gaza war spreading. Published On 9 Jan 20249 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Lloyd Austin hospitalised for infection after prostate cancer surgery
Disclosure comes as Pentagon faces public backlash over its secrecy about US defense secretary’s hospitalisation. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalised since January 1 with a urinary tract infection after a December surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center says. The disclosure on Tuesday came after nearly a week of public backlash directed at the Pentagon over its secrecy about the hospitalisation with President Joe Biden and Austin’s own deputy kept in the dark for days. Once the Pentagon did disclose on Friday that Austin was in the hospital, it declined to say why he was there or offer details about his medical prognosis. The 70-year-old was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on December 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, doctors said. Austin later developed the infection and was rehospitalised. Senior White House and defence officials were not told for days about his hospitalisation or the cancer. Doctors said the cancer was detected when Austin had a regular screening in early December. They said he “underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure” and went home the next day. But on January 1, he reported nausea and severe abdominal, hip and leg pain due to the infection. They said his prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent. The announcement came after days of questions about why Austin had been hospitalised and why Biden and other top officials hadn’t been informed immediately. Austin sits just below Biden at the top of the chain of command of the US military, the most powerful in the world. His duties require him to be available at a moment’s notice to respond to any national security crisis. Some Republican lawmakers have said Austin should be removed from his job. But the Pentagon said the retired four-star general had no plans to resign, and the White House said Biden, a Democrat, was not seeking to remove him. Austin remains at Walter Reed. “The secretary continues to remain focused on recovering but, more importantly, on carrying out his duties as secretary of defense and defending the nation,” Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said at a news briefing. Adblock test (Why?)
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor died from ‘natural causes’, coroner confirms
The Nothing Compares 2 u singer was pronounced dead at her London home in July last year. Acclaimed Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who was found dead in her London home in July last year, died of natural causes, the coroner has said. The Nothing Compares 2 u singer was pronounced dead at the scene, and police said her death, at the age of 56, was not being treated as suspicious. “This is to confirm that Ms O’Connor died of natural causes. The coroner has therefore ceased their involvement in her death,” London Inner South Coroner’s Court said in a statement on Tuesday. The coroner’s court said at the time of her death that an autopsy would be conducted before a decision was made on whether to hold an inquest. O’Connor’s death prompted an outpouring of sympathy from her fans, including other musicians and celebrities worldwide, particularly in her homeland of Ireland. On the day of her funeral in August, hundreds lined the route of her cortege in Bray, the Irish town 20km (13 miles) south of Dublin that she called home for 15 years. Some who came to honour her sang along to hits blasted from a vintage Volkswagen camper van, and others showered her hearse with flowers. Sinead O’Connor performs on stage at Glastonbury, United Kingdom, 1990 [File: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images] The musician, who rose to fame in the 1990s, changed the image of women in music at the time. Her shaved head, pained expression, and shapeless wardrobe were seen by many young women as a direct challenge to popular culture’s long-prevailing notions of femininity and sexuality. She was also vocal about her political stance against the Catholic Church. O’Connor was vilified by some and praised as a trailblazer by others. Her agents revealed that she had been completing a new album and planning a tour as well as a movie based on her autobiography, Rememberings, before she died. She converted to Islam in 2018 and took the name Shuhada’ Davitt, later Shuhada’ Sadaqat, but she continued to use Sinead O’Connor in her professional life. The musician had also spoken publicly about her mental health, telling the American television host, Oprah Winfrey, in 2007 that she struggled with thoughts of suicide and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. More recently, she had left the limelight following the death of her son Shane, who died by suicide in 2022 at age 17. Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken tells Israel to avoid ‘further civilian harm’ in Gaza
In Tel Aviv, the US secretary of state says that while Israel has a ‘right’ to prevent terrorist attacks, a sustainable peace includes the creation of a Palestinian state. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to avoid further civilian harm in its war on Gaza and to seek a path towards the creation of a Palestinian state as a way to resolve the long-running wider conflict. In a Tel Aviv meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Blinken “stressed the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. He reaffirmed US “support for Israel’s right to prevent the terrorist attacks of October 7 from being repeated”, Miller added, and “reiterated the need to ensure lasting, sustainable peace for Israel and the region, including by the realisation of a Palestinian state”. The top US diplomat is on his fourth visit to the Middle East since the war broke out on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people, according to Israeli authorities. Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza that has destroyed much of the territory and killed more than 23,200 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian officials. The secretary of state voiced hope that, after the war, Israel could push on with its efforts towards regional integration following its US-brokered normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and other states. “I think there actually are real opportunities there, but we have to get through this very challenging moment,” Blinken said after meeting Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Met with @IsraeliPM and reaffirmed our support for Israel’s right to prevent another October 7 from occurring. I also stressed the importance of avoiding civilian harm, protecting civilian infrastructure, and ensuring the distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza. pic.twitter.com/1g7h27Ci8f — Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 9, 2024 On Monday in Riyadh, he said countries in the region wanted integration with Israel but only if plans to normalise relations included a “practical pathway” to a future Palestinian state. Blinken was to meet with families of captives taken by Hamas and discuss the “relentless efforts” to bring them back. Several dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel where he was having meetings and called for a ceasefire to secure the release of the captives. Israel said that of about 240 people seized by Palestinian armed groups on October 7, 132 are still being held in Gaza and 25 have died in captivity. Blinken travelled to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before reaching Israel and the occupied West Bank. In Jordan on Friday, Blinken noted “real concern” over the Israel-Lebanon border, where the Israeli army and Hezbollah are trading fire and stoking fears of a wider regional conflagration. Israel’s defence minister was quoted as saying in a government statement that increasing pressure on Iran was “critical” as it could prevent a regional escalation as war grinds on in Gaza. “An increase in the pressure placed on Iran is critical and may prevent regional escalation in additional arenas,” Gallant was quoted as saying. Adblock test (Why?)