WASHINGTON: Joe Biden’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was pushed back a day Thursday as the US president cleared his agenda to address bombings in Kabul.
“The president’s bilateral meeting... has been rescheduled for tomorrow,” the White House said. The two leaders had been due to meet at 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) Thursday.
Bennett hopes to reboot ties with the Democratic administration after his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu’s tempestuous and polarizing 12 years in office.
However, the crisis in Afghanistan loomed over their meeting even before the bombings tore through Kabul, causing multiple casualties and the deaths of at least 12 US troops.
Bennett acknowledged the impact of Afghanistan in a meeting Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Mr. Secretary, I appreciate you taking the time in pretty hectic days here in the States. It means a lot to us,” Bennett said.
Bennett, 49, is on his first state visit since taking office in June as head of an ideologically-divided coalition in which his hawkish party holds only a handful of seats. He promised “a new spirit of cooperation” from Israel.
Bennett had intended to say Israel was concerned about a potential withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and Syria because of possible future instability, a senior Israeli official said.
The request gained added weight against the deadly bombing amid the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
However, Bennett was careful to avoid comment on events in Kabul.
“We didn’t come here to comment, we came to encourage,” another source in his delegation said. “I think the Americans appreciate that a lot.”
Instead, Bennett was planning to make Iran the focus of his visit, telling Blinken he wanted to address “how do we fend off and curtail Iran’s pursuit to dominate the region and its race to a nuclear weapon.”
Israel fiercely opposes Biden’s attempt to reverse Trump’s withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Since Trump’s move, Iran has itself withdrawn from key commitments, including on uranium enrichment.
US officials did not address the Iran deal directly Wednesday.
Blinken, however, told Bennett US commitment to Israel’s security is “unshakeable,” and touched on “deep concerns we share about Iran” and its nuclear program.
Bennett and Biden differ on key issues concerning the Palestinians. Bennett has said he will not stop construction in settlements and opposes creating a Palestinian state in territories Israel captured in 1967, both positions at odds with Washington.
“Two states is not relevant, not existent,” the source in his delegation said.
Biden’s administration has restored hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians, much of which was cut by Trump, who described himself as the most “pro-Israel” president in history.
Friction between Israel and Gaza escalated during Bennett’s visit, including violent border clashes.
It was the most serious deterioration since Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes in response to thousands of rockets fired by militants in the territory in May.
Dan Kurtzer, former US ambassador to Israel, told AFP Bennett’s visit would set a new tone even during disagreements.
With Bennett, “even if there are differences on policy, which there will be, the two will be able to talk without this overlay of disrespect.”
However, the timing of the Oval Office meeting was still not clear Thursday afternoon. Bennett canceled his Sunday cabinet meeting and prepared to remain in Washington through Saturday night. As Israel’s first Orthodox Jewish premiere, he would not be able to fly home during the Sabbath.
Biden delays meeting with Israeli PM amid Kabul blasts
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Biden delays meeting with Israeli PM amid Kabul blasts
- Joe Biden’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will take place on Friday
Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty
- Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.
Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers
- Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader
- It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Bashar Assad’s fall
AMMAN: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, Amman said, the latest high-profile visit since Bashar Assad’s ouster.
Images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showed Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands, without offering further details about their meeting.
A foreign ministry statement earlier said that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader as well as with “several Syrian officials.”
It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad’s fall.
Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.
Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Amman “sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people,” stressing the close ties between the two nations.
Momani said the kingdom would like to see security and stability restored in Syria, and supported “the unity of its territories.”
Stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan’s interests, Momani said, and would “ensure security on its borders.”
Some Syrians who had fled the war since 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.
The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.
According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it in Jordan.
Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometer border with Syria.
One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say
- Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry till date
Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children. That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
South Sudan overwhelmed by refugee influx: MSF
- Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies since conflict broke out in April 2023
NAIROBI: The situation on South Sudan’s border was “completely overwhelming” as thousands flee war-torn Sudan each day, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Monday.
The medical charity said up to 5,000 people were crossing the border every day. The United Nations recently put it even higher at 7-10,000 daily.
Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies since conflict broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced.
An MSF emergency coordinator in Renk town, near a transit center holding some 17,000 people according to the UN, said they were working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide care.
“But the situation is completely overwhelming and it’s not enough,” said Emanuele Montobbio.
Facilities had been expanded to accommodate the arrival of war wounded, he said, but they were unable to treat everyone.
“Over 100 wounded patients, many with serious injuries, still await surgery,” Montobbio said.
Bashir Ismail, from Mosmon in Blue Nile state, was recovering in hospital in Renk after an air raid.
“Something hit me in the chest — it was the most painful experience of my life,” he said.
“I was so disoriented that it felt like I had lost my memory.”
MSF South Sudan’s deputy medical coordinator Roselyn Morales said thousands who had crossed faced “critical shortages of food and shelter, clean water, shelter and health care.”
South Sudan is ill-equipped to handle the arrival of thousands seeking shelter from war, with the young country itself battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.
Alhida Hammed fled to Renk after his village was attacked and he was shot in Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
“The houses were blazing, and everyone was running in different directions,” he said.
He now has no shelter and is living under a tree, but does not want to return to Sudan.
“Home is no longer a home — it is filled with bad memories.”
