Air raid sirens echoed across Tel Aviv on Wednesday as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to end a visit. Smoke, apparently from an intercepted projectile, could be seen in the sky above the hotel where Blinken was staying.
Blinken urged Israel to use its recent tactical victories against Hamas to seek a war-ending deal and bring back dozens of hostages, before leaving Wednesday for Saudi Arabia as part of his 11th visit to the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Both sides appear to be dug in. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The war began after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization postponed the third phase of a polio vaccine campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, saying current conditions made it “impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination.”
Here’s the latest:
Hezbollah confirms death of Hashem Safieddine in Israeli airstrike
BEIRUT — Hezbollah announced that Hashem Safieddine, one of its top officials who had been widely expected to be the group’s next leader, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Wednesday’s announcement came a day after Israel said it had killed Safieddine in a strike this month in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Safieddine, a powerful cleric within the party ranks, had been expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month.
Over the past several weeks, Israeli strikes have killed much of Hezbollah’s top leadership.
Israeli army says it arrested over 150 suspected militants in Jabaliya
JERUSALEM — Israel’s army said it has arrested over 150 suspected Palestinian militants and facilitated the evacuation of an additional 20,000 residents over the past day from Jabaliya, an area of northern Gaza where troops have intensified attacks in recent weeks.
The military said in a statement Wednesday that some of the 150 detained had surrendered. The U.N. estimates that 60,000 people have fled from the far north of Gaza southwards, to Gaza City, over more than a two-week period.
A Palestinian resident of Beit Lahiya, near Jabaliya, told The Associated Press that Israel’s military has rounded hundreds of men in northern Gaza, separating women as families try to flee the area.
Hisham Abu Zaqout, a father of four, said he was held for at least three hours with dozens of men in a school near the Indonesian Hospital.
The Israeli army says it is trying to uproot Hamas militants from Jabaliya and other parts of northern Gaza.
Jabaliya, a refugee camp that has turned into a densely built neighborhood, has been the scene of on-and-of fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants for months.
Blinken discusses common efforts to end conflicts with Saudi Crown Prince
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped a two-hour meeting Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, where the two men discussed “common efforts” to end the growing conflicts in the region at a time of growing instability, according to spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Riyadh and Washington have been working in tandem in the past year to try and strike a lasting cease-fire in Gaza, which has become more elusive in recent weeks as Israel’s invasion of neighboring Lebanon significantly escalated.
Miller said in a statement that the two leaders also discussed the larger goal of ensuring Saudi Arabia’s “greater integration among countries in the region.”
Many choose to remain in Tyre despite intensifying bombardment
BEIRUT — The head of the disaster management unit in the Lebanese city of Tyre told The Associated Press that despite many fleeing Israeli airstrikes, thousands of residents and people who have been displaced have chosen to stay in the city.
Tyre is home to over 15,000 people, including hundreds of families, who have fled villages in South Lebanon and are now seeking refuge in schools-turned-shelters, Mortada Mhanna said.
Many families are staying put in the schools, he said, as the Israeli army intensifies its aerial bombardment on the city.
“It’s very difficult for many to leave. They’re worried about being subjected to further chaos and displacement,” Mhanna added.
A strike was heard in the background as he spoke on the phone. “That one was huge, can you check where it hit?” he asked a colleague.
Mhanna said his team has also chosen to stay in the city to take care of people, but “it’s a big risk. It’s not safe here anymore,” he said.
Israel’s defense minister says an attack on Iran would show military readiness
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister told a group of pilots Wednesday that an Israeli attack on Iran would demonstrate the “preparation and readiness” of the country’s air force.
“After we attack in Iran, both in the State of Israel and in other places will understand what your preparation process includes, and your preparation and readiness,” Yoav Gallant told air force pilots and operators at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel. “The Air Force is a key element in this matter and anyone who tries to harm us will be harmed.”
It was the latest statement from Israel’s leadership to suggest that the country plans to retaliate with force against Iran for the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel Oct. 1.
Israel’s options range from symbolic strikes on military targets to crippling attacks on Iran’s vital oil industry or its secretive and heavily fortified nuclear program, an option US President Joe Biden has urged Israel against.
Blinken to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet Wednesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh as tensions in the region continue to intensify with no breakthrough on a ceasefire deal.
The meeting is one of many Blinken will have with Arab officials in the next few days as the U.S. struggles to achieve some sort of progress just two weeks before the presidential election and in the final stretch of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The two are expected to discuss the growing concerns over humanitarian aide for Gaza as well as a post-war plan for Palestinians.
Multiple buildings in Lebanon hit in coastal city hit in airstrike
TYRE, Lebanon — Israeli jets struck multiple buildings in the coastal city of Tyre on Wednesday, sending large clouds of black smoke into the air.
The state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike on the nearby town of Maarakeh killed three people. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Tyre.
Tyre, a provincial capital, had largely been spared in the Israel-Hezbollah war that erupted last month, but strikes in and around the city have intensified recently.
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings a few hours prior for dozens of buildings in the heart of the coastal city. It told residents to move north of the Awali River, dozens of kilometers (miles) to the north.
The buildings are surrounded by ancient historical sites and beach resorts.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on the platform X that Hezbollah assets were in the area of the evacuation warning, without elaborating or providing evidence.
World Health Organization postpones third phase of polio vaccination campaign
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it and other aid agencies had to postpone the third phase of a polio vaccine campaign in the Gaza Strip due to the war there.
The WHO issued a statement saying the decision was made in concert with UNICEF, the United Nations’ Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, Palestinian officials and others after the inoculations were to begin Wednesday.
“The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and health workers to operate,” a WHO statement said.
The WHO said this phase of the vaccinations aimed to vaccinate over 119,000 children across northern Gaza.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said that the vaccination campaign in north Gaza would begin in the coming days “after a joint assessment and at the request of the WHO and UNICEF.”
The campaign began in September after Gaza reported its first polio case in 25 years. Health officials have expressed alarm about disease outbreaks as uncollected garbage piles up and the bombing of critical infrastructure sends putrid water flowing through the streets. Polio is spread through fecal matter.
Germany’s foreign minister calls for a diplomatic solution to fighting on her visit to Beirut
BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Baerbock, upon her arrival Wednesday in Beirut, said that “we must now work with our partners in the USA, Europe and the Arab world to find a viable diplomatic solution that safeguards the legitimate security interests of both Israel and Lebanon.”
The foreign minister warned that “a complete destabilization of the country would be fatal for the most religiously diverse society of all states in the Middle East and also for the entire region.” She also asked all parties involved in the conflict to protect the United Nations peacekeeper troops stationed in the Israeli-Lebanese border region.
The 5 Nordic countries are ‘deeply concerned’ about legislation that would prevent UNRWA from operating
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The five Nordic countries said Wednesday that they are “deeply concerned” by bills introduced to Israel’s parliament that would prevent the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza.
In early October, an Israeli parliamentary committee approved two bills that would sever Israeli government ties with UNRWA, ban UNRWA activity on Israel territory and strip it of legal immunities. The bills passed preliminary approvals by a large margin but must pass several more readings before they become law.
A joint letter signed by the foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden said that if the U.N. body “would no longer be able to exercise its core tasks” it could further destabilize the situation in the region, “and may fundamentally jeopardize the prospects for a two-state solution.”
Blinken urges Israel to end war as he leaves for Saudi Arabia
TEL AVIV, Israel — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel needs to pursue an “enduring strategic success” after its recent tactical victories against Hamas, urging it to seek a deal to end the war and bring back dozens of hostages.
He spoke to reporters Wednesday before traveling from Israel to Saudi Arabia on his 11th visit to the region since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in Gaza.
The United States hopes to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in an Israeli military operation in Gaza the previous week. But there’s no indication that either of the warring parties have modified their demands since the talks stalled over the summer. Hamas has said its demands have not changed following Sinwar’s death.
Blinken, who met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials Tuesday, said he had pressed Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and reiterated his warning that the failure to do so could lead to a reduction in U.S. military aid.
“There’s progress made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made,” on that front, he said.
Sirens sound across Tel Aviv as projectiles are intercepted near Blinken’s hotel
TEL AVIV, Israel — Air raid sirens echoed across Tel Aviv on Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to depart from his hotel to the airport.
The Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Smoke, apparently from one of the interceptions, could be seen in the sky above the hotel where Blinken was staying.
He is on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, hoping to renew cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
