Blinken says Gaza conflict needs to be contained
Middle Eastern nations need to use their influence over regional actors to ensure the Gaza conflict is contained and to prevent “an endless cycle of violence”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Blinken spoke late in the day after meeting the leaders of Turkey and Greece at the start of a week-long trip. Blinken, who will also visit Arab states, Israel and the occupied West Bank, said if efforts to settle the crisis failed, the outcome would be “lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region”.
A ceasefire would contain the conflict.... Always blaming everyone else.
Iran says ending war in Gaza key to avoiding regional war
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has responded to remarks from his French counterpart saying that Iran must stop “destabilising activities” in the region. The Iranian official countered that the surest way to defuse regional tensions is to end the “ongoing genocide in Gaza”, according to Iranian state media.
“An effective step in ending violence in the region would be to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime [Israel] and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as taking action to stop the killing of civilians, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and prevent forced migration,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
‘War on Gaza has not gone so well for Israel’: Analyst
Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics in Washington, DC, says that Israeli military and leadership are eager to send a message to the public about winning “this war on Gaza and to try and boost morale among Israelis”.
“The truth, however, is that this three-month war on Gaza has not gone so well for Israel,” he told Al Jazeera. “There’s been a rather high Israeli death count and the resistance in Gaza remains rather strong. This idea that Israel is going to quickly decapitate Hamas – well, that hasn’t played out the way the Israelis wanted it to. The stopwatch is running out in terms of how much longer Israel can continue to wage this high-intensity military campaign in Gaza,” he said.
Cafiero said that Israel is trying to shape a narrative about how its war in Gaza has been successful.
IDF claims it has completed dismantling Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed Saturday that it had completed dismantling Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the IDF was now focused on dismantling Hamas in central and southern Gaza. Hagari told a press conference that around 8,000 Hamas militants had been killed in northern Gaza.
CNN cannot independently verify the IDF claim that it has dismantled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza or that 8,000 Hamas militants have been killed.
Netanyahu says war must not stop until 3 objectives are achieved
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Saturday that the war against Hamas “must not be stopped” until Israel achieves three main objectives: “eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.”
I guess making Gaza uninhabitable ticks that box...
Israeli forces have killed 15 in Qalqilya since October 7
Qalqilya, which is already surrounded on three sides by the Israeli separation wall, has been reeling from several deadly military crackdowns, says Murad Shteiwi, director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in the northern occupied West Bank.
“The only way to enter the city is through the eastern entrance, and that also is often closed to citizens by the military,” he told Al Jazeera. “Israeli forces closed the northern entrance to the town of Azzun with an iron gate and barbed wire, and erected a military tower in addition to the two previously installed towers on the northern side,” he added.
The army also closed the entrances to the towns of Kafr Laqif, Jinsafut and al-Funduq.
West Bank town under ‘unprecedented crackdown’
Since October 7, the Israeli army escalated its repressive measures against Kafr Qaddum, near Qalqilya, says Murad Shteiwi, director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in the northern West Bank.
“Soldiers have been raiding the town and besieging the mosque from which a weekly anti-occupation march starts every Friday and Saturday, while also using live ammunition on protesters,” Shteiwi told Al Jazeera.
Since 2011, the town has been subjected to many military closures and raids, prompting weekly protests by its residents. “This has led to the death of an elderly man, more than 100 injuries and more than 200 have been detained,” he added.
Israeli forces impose restrictions on Jordan Valley
Arif Daraghmeh, an expert on settlement affairs and Israeli violations in the Jordan Valley, says that in the last week, Israeli troops have prevented Palestinian farmers from cultivating their land and settlers are free to trespass.
“Soldiers have stopped farmers from ploughing the agricultural land, detained some of them and confiscated their agricultural tractors,” Daraghmeh told Al Jazeera. In the northern Jordan Valley, he said, dozens of Palestinian vehicles are seen on a daily basis queueing at military checkpoints.
“Settlers have also been using Palestinian lands to let their own animals graze, while soldiers continue to militarise the Jordan Valley, restricting access to the area and closing checkpoints for varying periods of time,” Daraghmeh added.
Palestinian rights group gives update on arrests from Israeli raids
The Palestinian Prisoners Club says in a statement via Telegram that from yesterday evening until today, Israeli forces arrested 22 citizens from the occupied West Bank and four citizens from Gaza.
“The arrest operations were concentrated in the town of Qatana/Jerusalem, which witnessed a massive raid for hours”, the group said, ” while the rest of the arrests were distributed among the governorates of: Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Ramallah and Tulkarem.”
Is said that Israeli army arrests are accompanied by “severe beatings, threats against detainees and their families in addition to widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes.”
