Italy said, on Monday, that the United States and its allies in the Group of Seven are seeking to find a quick way out of the military phase of the conflict in Gaza, at a time when US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his counterparts from the European Union and Germany are visiting the region, according to Reuters news agency.
Blinken is holding talks on Gaza, in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, on Monday, before heading to Israel, where he seeks to launch joint peace efforts that he says are necessary to avoid a broader war.
Blinken arrived in Al-Ula, and was received by Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Foreign Minister.
At all points, the American minister warned of the danger of the war between Hamas and Israel expanding into a regional conflict. This is Blinken’s fourth tour in the Middle East since the start of the war in Gaza 3 months ago.
Blinken visited Jordan and Qatar on Sunday, at the start of a five-day diplomatic tour, his fourth in the Middle East since October 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel, which responded with a major attack that has not yet shown any signs that it will stop. Close to the end.
The conflict has attracted other armed groups allied with Iran, which are attacking Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and American forces in Iraq and Syria, and also attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. Israel is also waging a strict security campaign against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Palestinians inspect a building damaged by an Israeli air strike in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, January 3, 2024 (dpa)
On Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Israel, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Lebanon, reflecting an international state of concern.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Minister Antonio Taiani as saying, coinciding with Rome assuming the presidency of the G7 for a year: “The G7 countries are working with the Israeli government to find a quick way out of the military phase.”
A senior Hezbollah commander was killed
Three security sources told Reuters news agency that an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon on Monday resulted in the killing of a senior commander in the “Radwan Force” affiliated with the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah group, in the latest daily cross-border clashes.
Birbock informed Israel that it must protect the Palestinians in the West Bank, after Blinken issued a broader warning in Doha on Sunday. Blinken said, in a press conference in Doha, before heading to Abu Dhabi: “This is a time of deep tension in the region. “This is a conflict that could easily spread and cause further instability and suffering.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken listens during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister and the Qatari Foreign Minister (AFP)
After coming under pressure earlier from Washington, Israel indicated a shift to a more targeted approach during its war in Gaza ahead of the visit, but Palestinian health officials say it is still killing dozens every day, with 249 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the severity of the attack in Gaza indicates his country’s firm determination to end Hamas’ control of the Strip and deter other potential opponents allied with Iran, such as the Hezbollah group.
He added to the Wall Street Journal: “My basic point of view is that we are fighting an axis and not a single enemy… Iran is working to build its military power around Israel in order to use it.”
Israeli soldiers gather with their vehicles at a site on the border with the Gaza Strip, January 7, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas (AFP)
“We die or we live”
Palestinians said that Israel bombed areas east of the city of Khan Yunis in the south, and areas in the center of the Gaza Strip, throughout last night, amid clashes in those areas. They added that one strike in Deir al-Balah led to the death of 18 people and the injury of dozens.
The Israeli army announced on Monday that its soldiers killed at least ten Palestinian militants in Khan Yunis, bombed a weapons cache and discovered a tunnel opening during operations in the central areas of the Strip.
On Monday morning, the Israeli army dropped leaflets on the Al-Mughni neighborhood, in the central Gaza Strip, warning residents to evacuate several areas that it said were “dangerous combat zones.”
Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced at least once, and many are now displaced again, often sheltering in makeshift tents or under tarpaulins.
As for Aziza Abbas (57 years old), who is among a small number of Gazans who are now camping near the southern border with Egypt, there is nowhere else to go after what she said was a bombing that targeted the vicinity of a school where she took refuge after being displaced from her home in northern Gaza.
She said: “We are not going to Egypt or going to anything. We are lost, we are dying, we are living, or they are returning us to our homes.”
In neighboring Rafah, medics said an Israeli air strike on a car killed three.
Smoke rising after Israeli air strikes on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 8, 2024 (AP)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that 63 direct strikes hit its facilities, and that only five of its 22 health centers in central and southern Gaza are still working.
Israel, whose attack also caused severe shortages of food, water and medicine, accuses Hamas militants of deliberately launching operations from areas where there are civilians, accusations that Hamas denies.
Blinken said that he would inform Israeli officials during his visit of the need to make more efforts to prevent civilian deaths and injuries in Gaza. He added that Palestinian civilians must be allowed to return to their homes, and they must not be pressured to leave the Strip.
Palestinian health officials said on Monday that the Israeli attack has so far killed 23,084 Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war will not stop until Hamas returns more than 100 hostages still being held, out of 240 people taken to Gaza during the group’s October 7 attack on Israeli towns, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people.
The Qatari Prime Minister said on Sunday that the killing of a Hamas leader in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut last week affected Doha’s ability to mediate between the Palestinian movement and Israel.
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2024-01-08 16:12:21
