Israel-Hamas war: Focus on ending Israeli aggression, Hamas chief tells Antony Blinken
File photo.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Friday (Jan 5) called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use his current tour to the Middle East to end Israel's aggression as the war in the Gaza Strip rages on. In a televised statement, Haniyeh said he hoped Blinken learned the lessons of the last three months during which Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza to destroy Hamas.
Haniyeh said that Washington's support for the Israeli military campaign "caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza."
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"We... hope that he will be more focussed this time on ending the aggression" as well as "the occupation of all Palestinian lands", the Hamas chief added and urged regional leaders to meet Blinken to tell him that stability in the Middle East was "closely linked to our Palestinian cause".
Blinken in Middle East
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This is Antony Blinken's fourth trip to the Middle East since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on Oct 7 last year. Blinken arrived in Turkey's Istanbul on Friday to begin his week of diplomacy around the Middle East.
The US Secretary of State will visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority base in the West Bank, and five Arab countries -- Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the State Department.
"We don't expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. "But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head-on," he added.
On Saturday, Blinken met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks expected to focus on the war in Gaza and Ankara's request for US fighter jets. This meeting comes after Blinken held a two-hour meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The Turkish foreign ministry said that both Blinken and Fidan talked about "the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden's NATO accession process, bilateral and regional issues."
Death toll in Gaza over 22,700
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has now climbed to 22,722 since the conflict started. The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry claimed on Saturday that 122 people in the war-torn region died in the last 24 hours.
On the other hand, a total of 58,166 people have been wounded so far.
(With inputs from agencies)