Middle East crisis live: Blinken heads to Egypt in effort to seek ‘enduring end’ to Israel-Gaza war
It’s 7:48am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and Cairo. I’m Reged Ahmad and welcome to our latest blog on the Middle East crisis. I’ll be with you for the next while.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is due to fly to Egypt on his next stop as he continues his fifth tour of the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. In Cairo, Blinken is scheduled to met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken started his visit in Riyadh where he has held talks with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. They discussed “regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”, said state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
They also spoke of “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions”, Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region that triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.
Meanwhile, the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has reported in its latest update an “increase in strikes in Rafah on 4 and 5 February” as well as an increased influx of internally displaced people into the area.
More on that in a moment but first, a summary of the latest developments so far:
Six allied Kurdish fighters were killed late Sunday by a drone attack on a base also housing US troops in eastern Syria in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the US launched strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias. The US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Monday the attack hit a training ground at al-Omar base in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the forces’ commando units are trained. No casualties were reported among US troops. Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibilty.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on his fifth visit to the region since October in the coming hours. He will visit Israel as well as Egypt and Qatar. Speaking Monday after meeting in Washington with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said there was “real hope” for success of a “good, strong [ceasefire] proposal”. Jake Sullivan, president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Blinken would press Israel to allow more food, water, medicine and shelter in to Gaza, which has been left in rubble by nearly four months of bombardment.
In its latest operational update the Israeli military claims it has killed “dozens of terrorists” in the central and northern Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli bombardment continues in Khan Younis, with large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah also being targeted. At least 20 Palestinians were killed over the weekend in Israeli strikes on Rafah, the city previously designated a safe zone by the Israeli military and to where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had fled, according to the UN agency humanitarian agency Ocha.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported on social media that Israeli forces have detained the general manager and the administrative director of the Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis.
A 14-year-old Palestinian child was shot dead by Israeli security forces near occupied East Jerusalem after what they claimed was an attempted stabbing attack.
Spain will send the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA an additional €3.5m (£3m / $3.8m) in aid, foreign minister José Manuel Albares told lawmakers on Monday. The agency has warned of a significant funding shortfall after several large donors suspended funding after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October Hamas attack inside southern Israel.
Russia summoned Israel’s ambassador in Moscow over comments Simona Halperin made in an interview. She had criticised Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust and said Russia was being too friendly with Hamas.
A former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, is to lead an independent review of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel that at least 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. The review was ordered by Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), last month before the publication of the Israeli allegations and a subsequent mass exodus of donors led by the US and UK.