Middle East crisis live: Israel claims to have killed Hamas counterintelligence officer in airstrike – The Guardian

US Secretary of State Blinken: “Great urgency” to make progress on peace in the Middle East

Graeme Wearden

My colleague Graeme Wearden is in Davos for the Guardian and watched US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's speech:

Anthony FlashUS Secretary of State said he feels a “great urgency” to make progress towards peace in the Middle East, but that Israel must be integrated and feel secure, and there must also be a path to a Palestinian state.

In conversation with WEF founder Klaus Schwaband commentator Thomas FriedmanBlinken said a reformed Palestinian Authority can deliver better results for its people and must be part of the solution, but it must operate with the support of Israel, not its opposition.

Blinken said “even the most effective” Palestinian Authority will struggle if it faces active resistance from the Israeli government.

Asked whether this is the worst time to be secretary of state or whether it is just a matter of a place in the top five, Blinken argued that the US is in a “renewed position of strength” under Joe Biden .

He said Biden had asked him to work with international partners again and that had happened. This means that the world is more convergent in its dealings with China and Russia than before, he argues.

“We face a profound and heartbreaking challenge in the Middle East,” Blinken continued. He said of what he sees in Gaza: “The suffering breaks my heart.”

He said he is hearing from almost every country that they want the US at the negotiating table, and without US leadership there is a risk of a vacuum being created, Blinken argued. He said gaps tend to be filled by bad actors.

Updated at 09.55 GMT

Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned Iran's missile attack on the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq and called on all parties to avoid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

“I express my closeness and solidarity with the victims, all civilians, of the rocket attack that hit an urban area of ​​Erbil, capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan,” the pope told Portal during his weekly audience at the Vatican .

“Good relations between neighbors are not created through similar actions, but through dialogue and cooperation. I ask everyone to avoid any step that increases tensions in the Middle East and other war scenarios,” he added.

Francis called for prayer for the “many victims of war,” mentioning in particular Ukraine, Gaza, the Palestinian territories and Israel.

Updated at 09.52 GMT

The British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, will meet the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and other leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the British government said on Wednesday, Portal reports.

However, Masrour BarzaniPrime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Region has reportedly canceled a meeting planned there with Iran's foreign minister. Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in protest against Iranian air strikes.

Updated at 09:44 GMT

85 Palestinians were arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank overnight and four were killed in Tulkarm

Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling Tulkarm As Portal reports, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that a camp was set up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports: “According to sources, Israeli occupation forces arrested 85 Palestinians, including 40 workers from the Gaza Strip, last night and this morning as part of a large-scale arrest campaign across the West Bank.”

Updated at 09.45 GMT

Since October 7, 24,448 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 24,448 Palestinians and injured 61,504 since October 7, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Portal reports that the Hamas-run ministry said 163 Palestinians were killed and 350 injured in the past 24 hours.

The Associated Press releases more details about the attacks Iran on goals within Pakistan. It reports that militant group Jaish al-Adlwhich seeks an independent Balochistan, acknowledged the attack in a statement posted online.

Jaish al-Adl said two children were killed and two women and a young girl were injured in the attack. Videos shared by Baloch activist group HalVash, purportedly from the site, showed a burning building and two charred small bodies.

According to a Pakistani intelligence report, the two children killed were a six-year-old girl and an 11-month-old boy. Three women between the ages of 28 and 35 were injured. The report said three or four drones were also fired from the Iranian side, hitting a mosque and other buildings, including a house.

Iran has long suspected Sunni-majority Pakistan of harboring insurgents, and the Jaish al-Adl group has carried out bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police officers in the past.

The attacks in Pakistan came less than a day after Iranian missiles hit targets in Syria and Iraq. This was seen as retaliation after a double suicide bombing in the city of Kerman on January 3 that killed more than 80 Iranians.

Updated at 09:23 GMT

Images broadcast across news channels from Gaza, Israel and Lebanon continue to show Israeli bombardments with smoke rising Khan Younis In Gaza and the village Blida In Lebanon.

Air raids continued to damage houses Rafahone of the areas to which displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had to flee.

The Israeli military has released an image that purports to show rocket launchers at an unknown location inside Gaza Strip.

Three Palestinians were killed by an Israeli drone strike near Nablus after it was claimed the Red Crescent was prevented from visiting the scene

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society Expectations Israeli security forces “prevented” their teams from tending to a vehicle that was struck near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to evacuate wounded people.

A message posted on social media also said, without explicitly specifying the source of the shots, that “shots were aimed at our teams.”

It wrote:

Early in the morning, Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestinian Red Crescent rescue teams from reaching the site of the bombed vehicle near the Balata camp in Nablus to evacuate the wounded. Shots were aimed at our teams.

🚨Early this morning, Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestinian Red Crescent rescue teams 🚑 from reaching the site of the bombed vehicle near Balata camp in Nablus to evacuate the wounded. Shots were aimed at our teams.#NotATarget ❌#IHL #Nablus pic.twitter.com/Svr26Ous68

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 17, 2024

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three people were killed near Nablas the night after an Israeli drone strike. It writes:

Three Palestinians were killed at dawn in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus.

According to sources, an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle near the Barada crossing near Balata camp, burning it completely and killing three men instantly. Israeli forces prevented medical teams from reaching the site.

The Israeli occupation forces surrounded the vehicle with several military jeeps. The occupation forces opened fire on Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crews and prevented them from reaching the burning vehicle.

Wafa reports that Israeli security forces “had previously stormed the Balata camp accompanied by military vehicles, while airstrikes and overflights by aircraft and drones took place, leading to violent clashes between the camp's residents and the occupying forces.”

Updated at 08.05 GMT

Israel claims to have killed a Hamas counterintelligence official in an airstrike

Israel claims to have killed a Hamas member it believes was “responsible for questioning people suspected of espionage” in the southern Gaza Strip.

In its latest operational update posted on messaging app Telegram, the Israeli military claimed:

An IAF aircraft eliminated Bilal Nofal, who was responsible for interrogating people suspected of carrying out espionage activities against the terrorist organization in the southern Gaza Strip. Nofal played a role in advancing Hamas' research and development processes. His elimination has a significant impact on the terrorist organization's ability to develop and improve its capabilities.

In the update, Israel also claims to have killed five more Hamas operatives in Khan Younis and in Sheikh Ijlin in central Gaza.

It also claims to have destroyed rocket launchers used from the Gaza Strip to attack the Israeli town of Netivot earlier this week.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Summary of the day so far

It's 9 a.m. in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut and 10:30 a.m. in Tehran – here are some of the key events of the last day:

• An agreement that allows the delivery of medicine to hostages in Gaza and the delivery of aid to the area was agreed after mediation by Doha and Paris, Qatar and Israel have announced this.

• Iran has carried out airstrikes into Pakistani territory that appeared to target a Sunni militant group. This is the latest sign of a wave of violence spreading across the Middle East and beyond.

• American forces have destroyed four anti-ship missiles in Yemen. The US said the missiles threatened civilian and military ships.

• The attack, which follows the recent attack on shipping in the Red Sea, resulted in the Houthis hitting a Greek cargo ship with a rocket off the coast of Yemen on the way to the Suez Canal. No injuries were reported and the ship remained navigable.

• France says it did not take part in US-led attacks against the Houthis in Yemen because it wants to avoid regional escalation.

• The Biden administration is expected to announce plans to rename the Houthis rebels in Yemen as specially designated global terrorists, the Associated Press reports.

• The Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen announces that it, together with other major shipping companies, is suspending routes through the Red Sea in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the vital waterway.

• Aid agencies have begun shutting down vital operations in Yemen following recent US and British attacks on Houthi targets. amid warnings that further military intervention risks worsening one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

• U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday that it seized advanced conventional weapons from Iran on Jan. 11 that were intended for the Houthis in Yemen. It was the first seizure of “lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” to the Houthis since Houthi attacks on commercial vessels began in November, the statement added.

• US Navy Seals boarded a boat bound for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weapons that are intended Houthis According to the US military, two Seal commandos were missing during an operation.

• Iraq on Tuesday condemned Iran's “aggression” against Erbil, which resulted in civilian casualties in residential areassaid a statement from the country's foreign ministry after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked Israel's “spy headquarters” in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

• A US State Department spokesman said an Iranian attack near the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Monday “undermines the stability of Iraq.” “We reject Iran’s reckless missile attacks,” Matthew Miller said, adding that the U.S. supports “the efforts of the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to fulfill the hopes of the Iraqi people.”

• The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has also claimed responsibility for an attack in Syria. The group said it fired a series of ballistic missiles at and destroyed “terrorist operations” in the country – including Islamic State targets. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. had been tracking the missiles that hit northern Iraq and northern Syria and early indications suggested the attacks were “reckless and imprecise.”

• The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces had “eliminated” a “terrorist cell” in an airstrike in Israel. Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city Nablusreports Portal.

• The UN Foreign Minister António Guterres has Posted on X a few hours ago about his concerns about the war in Gaza and the expansion of the conflict. He says: “The longer the conflict in Gaza lasts, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation.” Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, posted an answer They blame Iran for regional instability.

• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) has released its latest update on the situation in Gaza: “As of January 15, only one of the three water pipes from Israel to Gaza is still in operation. The Deir al-Balah water pipeline, with a capacity of nearly 17,000 cubic meters of water per day, needs urgent repairs.”

• US senators have rejected a measure introduced by Bernie Sanders that would have provided military aid to Israel This depends on whether the Israeli government violates human rights and international agreements in its devastating war in Gaza.

• Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met Israeli relatives of hostages She assured them that she would continue to use Australia's voice to demand the immediate, unconditional and safe return of all hostages.

Updated at 07.09 GMT

More anti-war protests erupted in other countries, leading to the arrest of demonstrators in Costa Rica on Tuesday and arrests in the United States. Here are some pictures:

Updated at 06:51 GMT

The Israeli The military said on Wednesday that its forces had “eliminated” a “terrorist cell” in an airstrike. Balata camp in the Israeli-occupied city Nablusreports Portal.

The military said in a statement it had been “eliminated.” Abdullah Abu Shalal“, the camp's “head of terrorist infrastructure,” who the IDF alleges was planning to use his cell members to carry out an imminent, large-scale terrorist attack.

An unknown charred body was found Rafidia Government Hospital In Nablus after Israeli forces bombed a vehicle nearby Balata According to Portal, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said it was a camp.

תשתית הטרור במחנה בלאטה שבשכם בהובלתו של עבדאללה, קיבלה מימון והכוו נה מגורמים באיראן בשיתוף מפקדות הטרור ברצועת עזה ובחו”ל

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 17, 2024

Here's our full report on what we know about the deal medicine into it Gaza.

The medication is expected to arrive from Wednesday.

In a statement to Qatar's official news agency (QNA) on Tuesday, Doha announced an agreement “between Israel and Israel.” [Hamas]where medicines, along with other humanitarian aid, are to be delivered to civilians in Gaza…in exchange for the supply of medicines needed for Israeli prisoners in Gaza.”

Read more here:

Updated at 06:28 GMT