UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – The armies of both countries announced on Wednesday that they had repelled a major attack by Yemen's Houthi movement.
The American Secretary of State, traveling in the Middle East, must meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the future of Gaza. Antony Blinken also judges that the price that Palestinian civilians pay in Israeli operations is “too high.” 21 drones and missiles were shot down by the British and American armies in the Red Sea. “The most important attack” that the Houthis repelled last night… Le Figaro takes stock of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist movement Hamas, which led to a bloody attack on a thousand Israeli civilians on October 7th.
The Houthi “biggest attack” in the Red Sea has been repelled
The British and American armies have repelled “the largest attack to date” by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Wednesday. “Overnight,” the British ship HMS Diamond, together with American warships, “successfully repelled the largest attack to date by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea,” the minister wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“The Diamond has thwarted several drone attacks in its direction and those of merchant ships in the area,” the minister added, specifying that there were no injuries to the crew or damage to the British ship. The drones and missiles were shot down by fighter jets from the American aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, three American destroyers and a British warship, the HMS Diamond, Centcom said in a statement.
Blinken makes a surprise visit to Bahrain as part of his Middle East tour
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Bahrain on Wednesday, ending his marathon diplomatic campaign in the Middle East, according to a State Department official.
Antony Blinken, who spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier in the day, will meet King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in Bahrain to discuss how to avoid an escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State meets with Mahmoud Abbas
The death toll in Gaza is “far too high,” says the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, who is meeting on Wednesday in particular with the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss the delicate issue of the post-war period in this area Address area devastated by Israeli attacks. In 2007, the Palestinian Authority lost control of Gaza to Hamas and exercised limited power only in the West Bank, which it has shared with Israel since the Oslo Accords.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. JENS SCHLÜTER / AFP
“The Palestinian Authority has a responsibility to reform itself and improve its governance. “These are issues that I will address with President Abbas when we meet tomorrow (Wednesday),” Antony Blinken said. Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected for the last and only time in 2005, will meet with King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Jordan on Wednesday to agree to an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and the delivery of uninterrupted humanitarian aid discuss, according to Amman.
Read alsoEgypt, Lebanon, Jordan: The war is weakening the economy of Israel's tourist neighbors
“The price that Palestinian civilians pay is too high,” criticizes Antony Blinken
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to urge Israel to spare Palestinian civilians in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas is still firing rockets at Israeli cities. AMIR COHEN / Portal
“We know that it is incredibly difficult to confront an enemy who is hiding among civilians and hiding in schools and hospitals to shoot. But the price that civilians in Gaza, especially children, pay every day is far too high,” he said. The Gaza Strip must receive “more food, more water, more medicine,” Antony Blinken added on Tuesday, also calling on Israel to “stop actions that undermine the Palestinians' ability to govern themselves.”
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21 drones and missiles shot down in the Red Sea
American and British forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening in a “complex” attack, the US military said. “The Iran-backed Houthis launched a complex Iranian-designed attack in the southern Red Sea using drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and an anti-ship cruise missile,” the US Military Command in the Middle East (Centcom) said.
The drones and missiles were shot down by fighter jets from the US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, three US destroyers and a British warship, the HMS Diamond, Centcom said in a statement, assuring that there was “no damage or injuries”. have. in these attacks. International forces stationed in the Red Sea have responded to a new security incident off the coast of northern Yemen, a region controlled by Houthi rebels, Britain's maritime security agency UKMTO said earlier.
Israel's first ally, the United States, formed an international coalition in December to protect maritime traffic from Houthi attacks in this strategic zone, which accounts for 12% of global trade. Additionally, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Tuesday evening that another frigate, HMS Richmond, was heading to the Red Sea to counter the Houthis' “attacks.” Tuesday night's attack was the 26th since mid-January targeting commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea, Centcom said.
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