الكاتب: kafej

Benjamin Netanyahu should not be allowed by the international community to drag the Middle East into a wider regional war, Jordan has warned.

The Arab country’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said the risk of the conflict spreading was “rising by the day” with Israel continuing to wreak “death and destruction in Gaza“.

The right-wing nationalist coalition government of Prime Minister Netanyahu was seeking to implicate the West directly in a regional war which would “doom the region to more conflict and destruction”, Mr Safadi was quoted as telling French counterpart Catherine Colonna.

“Israel’s aggression against Gaza has exceeded all the human, legal and moral limits,” according to Mr Safadi, who claimed there was no longer any pretext stopping the UN Security Council from adopting a mandatory resolution to end the war.

Latest updates on Israel-Hamas conflict

Pressure is growing on Israel from the US and regional powers to ease up on its assault against Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by Western powers, including the UK.

It comes as US secretary of state Antony Blinken continues his latest Middle East tour as he aims to prevent an expanded conflict.

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The war, which was sparked by Hamas storming the Gaza border on 7 October 2023 and killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel, is now entering its fourth month.

Retaliatory strikes by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.

Israel said on Monday its troops have engaged in “tough battles” against Hamas fighters in central and southern parts of the enclave.

In the latest violence, Israeli forces bombarded the eastern part of the southern city of Khan Younis and the central Gaza Strip amid ground clashes, according to residents.

They said a strike in Deir al Balah killed 18 people overnight and four on Monday, while health officials in the enclave said 247 people were killed overnight.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has met Mr Blinken, stressed the importance of stopping the hostilities in Gaza and forming a path for peace, reported Saudi state news agency SPA.

He also underscored the need to restore stability and to ensure the Palestinian people gain their legitimate rights.

And Jordan’s King Abdullah said “indiscriminate aggression” and shelling could never bring peace or security.

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Mr Blinken, who has also visited Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey among other nations during his trip, along with Israel, said he found support among Arab leaders for normalising relations with the Israelis.

“There’s a clear interest in the region in pursuing that but it will require that the conflict end in Gaza and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to a Palestinian state,” said the top US diplomat.

Senior Hezbollah commander killed

In a further sign the war is spreading beyond Gaza’s borders, Israel killed a top commander of Hamas’s ally Hezbollah in a strike in south Lebanon, security sources told Reuters.

They said the man was the deputy head of a unit within the group’s elite Radwan force.

They identified him as Wissam al Tawil and said he was killed along with another fighter.

Sky News has been unable to independently verify the claims.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said on Monday it killed a central figure in Syria who was responsible for Hamas rocket attacks against Israel.

The IDF claimed it “eliminated” Hassan Hakashah in Beit Jinn.

It alleged he was a “central figure” responsible for rockets fired by Hamas from Syrian territory towards Israel in recent weeks.