TEL AVIV: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday stepped up calls for Israel to comply with international law and spare civilians as it wages its war against Hamas in Gaza.
On his third trip to the Middle East since the war began on Oct. 7, Blinken said the US remains committed to supporting Israel’s right to self defense. But he also said it is imperative that Israel protect civilians if it starts major military operations in southern Gaza.
His message aligns with the Biden administration’s shifting rhetoric on the war, which began as a full-throated embrace of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks but gradually tempered as the number of Palestinian civilian casualties began to rise dramatically. The death toll and scale of destruction has prompted widespread international criticism, including from members of President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party.
Meeting in Jerusalem just hours after Israel and Hamas agreed at the last minute to a third extension of a cease-fire agreement under which Israel has paused most military activity in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas, Blinken assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he could count on US support.
But he added that such support requires Israel’s “compliance with international humanitarian law,” and he “urged Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm.”
To prevent a further major increase in civilian casualties, Blinken said he “made clear the imperative before any operations go forward in southern Gaza there’ll be a clear plan in place that puts a premium on protecting civilians, as well as sustaining and building on humanitarian assistance getting to Gaza.”
He told reporters the Israeli government had “agreed to that approach” but declined to offer specifics on how Israel would follow through. However, he suggested that Netanyahu and others understood that that ”the massive levels of civilian life and displacement scale we saw in the north not be repeated in the south.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in southern Gaza after fleeing their homes in the northern part of the territory due to the conflict, and US officials have been warning Israel that any offensive in southern Gaza must take into account the safety of the civilian population there.
In addition, Blinken “urged immediate steps to hold settler extremists accountable for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank” and said the US places great importance on the resumption of a peace process that would eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israeli officials have pledged to the US on multiple occasions that Israeli settler violence will be punished, but the Palestinians have complained of inaction on that front. And, Netanyahu is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, having told Israelis that he is the only political leader who can prevent it.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement about the meeting with Blinken that contained no mention of settler violence or a two-state solution.
Instead, in a recorded message, Netanyahu noted that his talks with Blinken had taken place shortly after a Hamas-claimed attack in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on commuters at the entrance to Jerusalem, killing at least three people and wounding more than a dozen others, including two US citizens.
Netanyahu said he told Blinken, “This is the same Hamas that carried out the terrible massacre on Oct. 7, the same Hamas that tries to murder us everywhere. I told him: We swore, and I swore, to eliminate Hamas. Nothing will stop us.”
“We will continue this war until we achieve the three goals — to release all our abductees, to eliminate Hamas completely and to ensure that Gaza will never again face such a threat,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken met with Netanyahu and his war Cabinet in Jerusalem before traveling to the occupied West Bank for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and then back to Tel Aviv where he saw Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
In his meeting with Abbas, Blinken focused on efforts to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and condemned Jewish settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. Blinken told Abbas “he would continue to insist on full accountability for those responsible,” the State Department said.
Blinken also told Abbas that “the United States remains committed to advancing tangible steps for a Palestinian state,” it said.
Gallant, the defense minister, repeatedly referred to the fight against Hamas as “a just war” that would not end until Israel’s goals are achieved.
“We are going to fight Hamas until we prevail no matter how long it takes,” he told Blinken. “It’s a just war. It’s a war to (defeat) Hamas, the Daesh of Gaza, and it’s a war to bring the hostages back home. As long as it takes.”
Blinken said Thursday had “started off in a very terrible and negative way with another terrorist attack that took the lives of innocent Israelis in Jerusalem, a reminder of what Israel and every Israeli citizen has to face every day.”
“We condemn it and we also mourn the loss of these innocent lives as we mourn the loss of any innocent life,” he said, adding that, at the same time, the truce had been extended.
“We want every hostage to come home,” Blinken said. “We look to see if this can continue. Certainly, that would be a good thing, and it’s also allowed much more humanitarian assistance to get in to the Gazans who need it. But it’s going to be up to Hamas whether they will continue to do this.”
The top US diplomat will close out his latest Mideast tour in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, where he will discuss the Gaza situation with Arab leaders gathered in Dubai for the COP28 climate change conference.
Blinken tells Netanyahu ‘imperative’ to protect Gaza civilians
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Blinken tells Netanyahu ‘imperative’ to protect Gaza civilians

- Stresses imperative of accounting for humanitarian and civilian protection needs in southern Gaza
Israel PM says bodies of two hostages retrieved from Gaza

- The bodies were of Judy Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the bodies of two Israelis killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and held in Gaza had been returned to Israel.
“In a special operation by the (security agency) and the (military) in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our hostages held by the murderous terrorist organization Hamas were returned to Israel: Judy Weinstein-Haggai and Gad
Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz, may their memory be blessed,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Judy and Gad were murdered on October 7 and abducted to the Gaza Strip,” he added.
UAE, Egypt leaders renew call for Gaza ceasefire

- The two leaders stressed “the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a ceasefire” in Gaza
DUBAI: UAE’s Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday reiterated the call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during their meeting in Abu Dhabi.
During the two leaders’ talks at Qasr Al-Shati in Abu Dhabi, they stressed “the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a ceasefire” in Gaza and working “towards a clear political horizon for a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.”
The US earlier vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate truce in the besieged enclave, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and unhampered delivery of humanitarian supplies territory’s starving population.
Sheikh Mohamed and Sisi, during their high-level talks, also discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries “particularly those that advance their shared development goals and serve the mutual interests of their peoples.”
They also reviewed regional and international issues as well as recent developments particularly aimed at restoring security and stability in the Middle East region.
Activist Gaza aid boat slams Israel ‘threat’

ROME: International activists seeking to sail an aid boat to Gaza condemned Wednesday what they called Israel’s threats and “declared intent to attack” their vessel as it crosses the Mediterranean.
Israel’s military said Tuesday it was ready to “protect” the country’s seas, after the vessel — the Madleen, sailed by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition — left Sicily on Sunday carrying around a dozen people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
“The navy operates day and night to protect Israel’s maritime space and borders at sea,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said.
Asked about the aid vessel, he said: “For this case as well, we are prepared.”
He added: “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the activist coalition said it “strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen,” calling it a “threat.”
“Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in Gaza, it said.
Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, launched in 2010, is an international movement supporting Palestinians, combining humanitarian aid with political protest against the blockade on Gaza.
The Madleen is a small sailboat reportedly carrying fruit juices, milk, rice, tinned food and protein bars.
In early May, the Freedom Flotilla ship Conscience was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack.
The coalition said that on Tuesday evening, off the coast of the Greek island of Crete, the Madleen “was approached and circled by a drone, followed, several hours later by two additional drones.”
It said it was later informed these were surveillance drones operated by the Greek coast guard, EU border agency Frontex or both.
Israel recently eased a more than two-month blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, but the aid community has urged it to allow in more food, faster.
IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power

- The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site
DAMASCUS: UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday his agency and Syrian authorities would begin “exploring the possibility of nuclear power,” on his first visit to Damascus since the ouster of Bashar Assad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly been at loggerheads with Syria in the past over what it says are “unresolved issues” regarding suspected nuclear activities.
On his visit, the IAEA chief met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani.
“Honoured to meet Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus. I recognize his courage in cooperating with full transparency to close a chapter of Syria’s past that diverted resources necessary for development,” Grossi said in a post on X.
He said the two sides “will also begin exploring the possibility of nuclear power in Syria.”
“Our cooperation is key to closing outstanding issues and focusing on the much needed help IAEA can provide Syria in health and agriculture,” he added.
The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site.
Israel in 2018 admitted carrying out a top-secret air raid in 2007 against what it said was a nuclear reactor under construction at the site in eastern Syria.
Syria had denied it was building a nuclear reactor.
Grossi visited Damascus in March last year, meeting then president Assad who was overthrown in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Grossi told an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in March this year that he had requested Syria’s cooperation to “fulfil our obligation to verify nuclear material and facilities” and to “address unresolved issues.”
“Clarifying these issues remains essential to Syria demonstrating its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and international peace and security,” he said at the time.
Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

MARRAKECH: Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military’s moves to form a new government as “fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country’s two-year civil war.
Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.
“Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco.
“There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.”
Hamdok became Sudan’s first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition. He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure.
The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse.
Both sides stand accused of war crimes.
The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live.
The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.
The military recaptured the Khartoum area from the RSF in March, as well as some surrounding territory. Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan has framed the advances as a major turning point in the conflict.
Last month, he appointed a new prime minister, Kamil Al-Taib Idris, for the first time since the war began, tasked with forming a new government. But the fighting has continued.
The RSF has regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur and made advances elsewhere, including in Kordofan.
Hamdok, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can’t be secured without addressing the root causes of the war.
Hamdok said a ceasefire and a credible process to restore democratic, civilian rule would need to confront Sudan’s deep inequalities, including uneven development, issues among different identity groups and questions about the role of religion in government.
“Trusting the soldiers to bring democracy is a false pretense,” he added.
Though rooted in longstanding divisions, the war has been supercharged by foreign powers accused of arming both sides.
Pro-democracy groups, including Hamdok’s Somoud coalition, have condemned atrocities committed by both the army and the RSF.
“What we would like to see is anybody who is supplying arms to any side to stop,” he said.