Skip next section Blinken to visit region, without Israel stop
09/17/2024September 17, 2024
Blinken to visit region, without Israel stop
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit the Middle East on Tuesday in a bid to push for a cease-fire deal between
Blinken will meet local officials to “discuss ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the State Department said in a statement.
Unlike his other visits to the region since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Blinken will not hold meetings in Israel.
The attempts to bring about a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas have so far failed to bear fruit, with both sides reportedly refusing to compromise on several key issues.
Hamas is a militant, Islamist, Palestinian group. The European Union as well as the United States, Germany and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
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Skip next section Israeli PM: Residents returning to northern communities now a war goal
09/17/2024September 17, 2024
Israeli PM: Residents returning to northern communities now a war goal
Israeli Prime Minister announced Tuesday that the country’s official war goals now include the return of residents to Israel’s far north, the area where the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been exchanging cross-border fire with ally in Lebanon.
“The political-security Cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes since Hamas’ October 7 attack sparked war in .
The fighting between both sides resulted in tens of thousands of people fleeing their homes.
While Hezbollah officials said the fighting would stop should a cease-fire in Gaza be reached, Israel says it cannot allow militants to threaten its territory from Lebanon’s south.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shiite political party and militant group in Lebanon. The group is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.
ftm/jsi (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4khAK
The post Middle East updates: Israeli PM says returning Israelis to northern areas now a war goal appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
