What happened in the last few hours?
These are the most important news on the Israel-Gaza war and the crisis in the Middle East this Thursday, January 4, at 8:00 p.m.:
The US Secretary of State travels to the Middle East to prevent an escalation of war in the region. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark today on a week-long diplomacy on Israel's war in Gaza and visit Israel and the West Bank and seven other countries in the region next week, the US secretary of state announced on Thursday. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Blinken will discuss concrete measures that countries in the region can take to prevent the conflict from spreading, Miller said in a press conference. “Nobody cares, neither in Israel nor in the region nor in the world, if this conflict goes beyond Gaza,” he reflected.
Hundreds of people attend the funeral of Saleh al Aruri, Hamas' number two, in Beirut. Hundreds of people attended the funeral in Beirut of Saleh al Aruri, Hamas' number two and one of the militia's key leaders, who died in an explosion in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday. The Islamist militias and other countries such as Yemen and Lebanon have attributed the attack to Israel, which has not yet confirmed responsibility.
The Lebanese militia Hezbollah confirms the deaths of four of its members in a new Israeli attack on southern Lebanon. The Lebanese militia Hezbollah has confirmed the deaths of four of its members in an Israeli attack on southern Lebanon as part of clashes following the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militia Hamas. In addition to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, there has also been an almost daily crossfire between Israel and Lebanon since the beginning of October.
Dozens dead and more than a hundred injured in Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the Israeli army's new bombings in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night left dozens dead and a hundred injured. The attacks continue to be particularly violent in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip. West of Khan Younis, in Al Mawasi, at least 14 Palestinians have died, including nine children. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that the death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas stands at 22,438 Palestinians. In addition, according to ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra, another 57,614 people were injured.
The United Nations estimates that around 7,000 people have disappeared in Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs puts the number of people missing in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between the Palestinian militia Hamas and Israel at around 7,000. The organization points out that many of the missing are still buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by the bombings.
UN Security Council calls on Houthis to stop attacks. U.N. Security Council members on Wednesday called on Yemen's Houthis to stop their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, warning that they were illegal and threatened regional stability, freedom of navigation and world food security. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has assured that international action will be taken if they do not stop, although he has not specified what he would be prepared to do. Just today, according to the US Navy, an unmanned ship loaded with explosives exploded in the Red Sea. The explosion, which caused no damage or casualties, was described by the US as a failed Houthi attack.
The US attacks pro-Iranian militias in Baghdad with drones. At least one pro-Iranian militiaman has been killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Several senior US officials confirmed the events to the Portal agency and also to the New York Times, asserting that the attack hit a vehicle and that it targeted a Shiite militia leader.