Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a phone call to prevent Israel from launching a military operation in the city of Rafah. The agency reported this on Monday, April 1 WAFA.
Blinken contacted President Abbas to congratulate him on the formation of a new government led by presidential economic adviser Mohamed Mustafa. During the telephone conversation, they discussed recent developments in the Middle East, including efforts to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian leader stressed the need to immediately stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, and also noted the importance of speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid.
For his part, the Secretary of State confirmed that the United States looks forward to working with the new Palestinian government to develop bilateral relations and will apply appropriate pressure to ensure the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
On April 2, the White House announced Israel's readiness to take into account US concerns regarding the operation in Rafah. At the initiative of American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser to the American President Jake Sullivan, a meeting was convened at which the issue was discussed, the US administration clarified.
On April 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a building in the Al-Mezza area in southwest Damascus in Syria. It was the Iranian consulate in Syria, and Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in the attack. The day before, Israel also carried out strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, two local residents were injured.
Al Mayadeen TV channel reported on March 26 that the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor in the east of the country was hit by airstrikes. Several people died, their exact number is unknown. According to the TV channel, the al-Salihiyya area in the city of Al-Bukamal, residential areas in Al-Mayadin and the Al-Qusur area in Deir ez-Zor were attacked.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israeli territory to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded the border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. That same day, Israel began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are seeking to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses the conditions set.
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