US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on January 9, in an attempt to prevent the ongoing war between the Israeli Army and the Hamas group from escalating. turn into a regional conflict. However, border tension is spreading: in the last few hours an Israeli attack killed three members of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shiite group responded with attacks against a military barracks. Israel warned that its war against Hamas will last for several months in the Palestinian enclave, where the death toll rose to 23,210 on Tuesday.
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The United States strengthens its diplomatic stance against the war in Gaza, while Israel toughens its military offensive.
This Tuesday, January 9, the Israeli Army indicated that it expanded its ground operation in Khan Younis and Rafah, the largest cities in the south of the besieged Palestinian territory, filled with internally displaced people. The troops indicated that they killed 40 Hamas members there in the last few hours, in “expanded ground operations that included airstrikes.”
“Dozens of terrorists were killed (…) Large quantities of weapons and underground terrorist tunnels were located,” added the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), although this information has not been independently verified.
The attacks that continually hit Gaza territory leave thousands of civilians without places to take refuge. In the last 24 hours alone, 126 people lost their lives and 241 were injured, bringing the total number of fatalities to 23,210 since October 7, the enclave's Ministry of Health reported this Tuesday.
Total, 59,167 Palestinians have been injured since the conflict escalated, in the midst of the enormous difficulties in receiving medical care, since a large part of the hospitals are out of operation after being attacked, as well as due to the lack of water, energy and medical supplies.
In the midst of this panorama, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel, trying to mediate with his ally and other leaders of neighboring territories to prevent the ongoing war from becoming a major confrontation in the region.
Blinken mediates in Israel about the war in Gaza
In his fourth visit since the escalation of the conflict broke out three months ago, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken mediates with Washington's great ally in the Middle East. The diplomat met this Tuesday in Israel with President Isaac Herzog and later with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; a visit in which It seeks to stop a possible expansion of the conflict beyond the borders with the Palestinian enclave and advance a plan for Gaza once the ongoing hostilities end.
Blinken – who arrived in Tel Aviv after a tour of Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan – noted that he obtained commitments from four Arab nations and Ankara to help in the reconstruction of Gazan territory after the war. something those countries had refused to promise without first stopping the attacks on the besieged coastal strip.
“What I found at virtually every stop was the willingness of all the countries involved to do important things to help stabilize and revitalize Gaza. I heard that in every place and one of the things we are going to work on together is what countries specifically are willing to do, “Blinken declared on the evening of Monday, January 8, just as he was leaving Saudi Arabia for Israel.
The top representative of American diplomacy had already assured that he would pressure Netanyahu's government on the “absolute imperative” to do more to protect the civilians of Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to reach them.
For his part, President Joe Biden noted on the eve of Blinken's meetings in Israel that his government is putting pressure on Israel to begin withdrawing some of its forces.
But the scope of those interventions is still unclear. Just two weeks ago, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that the war in Gaza will last “several more months” and on the ground the troops are intensifying the siege, which leaves a population of 2.4 million people devastated and in a critical situation due to desolation, hunger and unsanitary conditions.
Washington's attempts to stop an expansion of the war in Gaza face greater challenges amid the crossfire on Israel's border with Lebanon and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Israel kills three Hezbollah members in Lebanon; Fears of regional conflict grow
Three Hezbollah fighters, the Shiite group that supports Hamas from Lebanon, died this Tuesday in an Israeli attack, when the vehicle in which they were traveling was hit, in the city of Ghandouriyeh, in the south of Lebanese territory.
Israeli troops described their warplanes attacking “terrorist infrastructure” in southern Lebanon.
The response from the other side of the border came shortly after. The Shiite movement, backed by Iran, attacked an Israeli Army base in Safed with explosive drones, a position it reached for the first time.
Hezbollah claimed it was a retaliatory assault for the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut last week, and in response to Monday's killing of a Hezbollah commander.
Although an Israeli Army spokesperson confirmed the attack on their positions, he assured that no damage or casualties were reported.
Since hostilities broke out in Gaza, due to the Hamas attack against Israel, on October 7, fears of an escalation of the conflict have increased. Israel, backed by the United States, confronts armed groups supported by Iran in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
With Reuters, AFP and AP
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