As the conflict entered Sunday January 7 in its fourth monththe American Secretary of State, currently on tour in the Middle-East, is in Tel Aviv this Tuesday, January 9. He is due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as President Isaac Herzog and members of Parliament.
Information to remember
⇒ Blinken is in Tel Aviv
⇒ The Israeli army says it has killed a “central figure” of Hamas in Syria
⇒ In Saudi Arabia on Monday, Blinken spoke of the normalization of Israel
Gaza: Blinken insists to Netanyahu on the “importance” of sparing civilians
The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, insisted this Tuesday to the 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, Antony Blinken “reaffirmed our support for Israel’s right to prevent a repeat of the terrorist attacks of October 7, and insisted on the importance of avoiding further harm to civilians and (on) protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza,” according to a statement.
Hezbollah says it targeted command center in northern Israel
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.
Hamas calls on Muslim countries to support it “with weapons”
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 this is the battle of Al-Aqsa and not only the battle of the Palestinian people”, according to a speech delivered in Doha whose text was was transmitted to the media in the Gaza Strip. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam.
In Saudi Arabia, Blinken discusses the future of Gaza
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, declared Monday that there was a “clear interest” in pursuing the objective of normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as part of a regional tour aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East. Before traveling to Israel on Monday evening, Antony Blinken assured from Saudi Arabia that all the leaders met in the first six countries of his diplomatic marathon had agreed to work with the United States to contribute to reconstruction and stabilization. in the long term of the Gaza Strip.
He spoke after speaking with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We talked about it (normalization with Israel)” including “of course here in Saudi Arabia.” “And I can tell you that there is a clear interest in continuing along this path,” he told journalists before flying to Tel Aviv.
Syria: a “central figure” of Hamas killed by the IDF
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.
“He was a central figure responsible for rockets fired towards Israel by Hamas from Syrian territory in recent weeks,” the army said in its statement. Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory, mainly targeting forces supported by Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah, allies of Damascus and sworn enemies of the Israeli state. as well as the Syrian army.
New York bridge and tunnel blocked
Dozens of pro-Palestinian New York demonstrators briefly blocked emblematic bridges and a tunnel in the American megalopolis on Monday to protest against the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In a spectacular action, demonstrators tied and chained themselves to each other and to tires and chairs on the famous Brooklyn Bridge which connects the eponymous borough to the island of Manhattan, noted Agency journalists France Press.
Police officers intervened to unblock and arrest the protesters who had clung to the infrastructure of the Brooklyn Bridge while other coordinated movements took place on the twin bridges of Williamsburg and Manhattan linking Brooklyn to Manhattan above the East River.