Middle East: Blinken says Netanyahu supports cease-fire deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Tel Aviv on Monday, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs a US-proposed cease-fire deal. 

"In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal. He supports it. It's now incumbent on Hamas to do the same," said Blinken.

The US diplomat said now is the time for Hamas to return Israeli hostages and bring relief to Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

"This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security," said Blinken ahead of meetings with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Blinken will now travel to Qatar, which plays a key mediating role in negotiations, to discuss the next steps in the ongoing process. 

Though some negotiators have expressed optimism that a deal may finally be within reach, there are also fears the conflict could veer into more troubling waters as tensions between Israel and Iran continue to rise, signaling a possible regional escalation.

Further talks are to be held in Egypt later in the week. The trip is Blinken's ninth to the region over the past 10 months of conflict.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Monday jointly claimed responsibility for a deadly bomb attack in Tel Aviv that killed one pedestrian as well as the assailant.

The groups said they, "carried out the suicide operation that took place Sunday evening in the city of Tel Aviv." 

Israeli government spokesman David Mercer told reporters that a, "Palestinian with a backpack loaded with explosives exploded the charge he was carrying before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area." 

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which many Western nations define as terror groups, vowed to continue such attacks within Israel until the war in Gaza stops.

Hamas triggered the ongoing conflict with a brutal cross border attack last October, killing nearly 1,200 people and abducting nearly 250.

Sunday's attack came less than an hour after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv to urge the finalization of a cease-fire agreement that would halt the 10-month conflict, which has now killed more than 40,000 people.

Two Hezbollah fighters were killed on Monday in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, the militant group said.

The Israeli strike on Houla followed several attacks Hezbollah had carried out against Israeli military targets. The Israeli military later confirmed that one soldier was killed in the incident and several others wounded.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, has accused Israel of trying to "infiltrate" the Lebanese border.

Conflict between the group, which has publicly supported Hamas, and Israel has racheted up in recent weeks, prompting fears of a wider regional war.

After meeting with President Isaac Herzog, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Washington's commitment to upcoming peace talks. He said it was "time to make sure no one takes any steps that could derail the process," in a veiled reference to Iran.

Blinken also lamented attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas within Israel in the last 24 hours.

"This is the way we are living these days," Herzog said. "We are surrounded by terrorism from all four corners of the earth and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation."

Blinken then met one-on-one with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the talks "positive."

"The prime minister reiterated Israel's commitment to the latest American proposal regarding the release of our hostages — taking into account Israel's security needs, which he insists on firmly," his office said in a statement.

Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later in the day.

Lufthansa and its subsidiaries will not fly to or from Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, or Iraq until at least August 26, the airline announced, specifically naming the cities of Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman, and Irbil.

The company cited regional tensions, particularly between Israel and Iran following the killing of Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last month.

Lufthansa also said that the group's airlines will also avoid flying over Iraqi and Iranian airspace for other routes.

The previous flight suspension had been set to expire on Wednesday.
 

New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement saying that Israel's July 20 strike on a key port in Yemen was a "possible war crime."

The attack on the Houthi rebel-held port city of Hodeida came a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack in Tel Aviv. HRW said the drone attack, which killed one person, could also be a war crime.

The resulting strike on the port decimated the area's fuel storage capacity and killed nine people, six of whom were civilians, according to HRW. Eighty people were injured in the strike.

HRW said the Hodeida port "is critical for delivering food and other necessities to the Yemeni population."

The damage "could have a long-term impact on millions of Yemenis who rely on the port for food and humanitarian aid," it said.

More humanitarian workers were killed in warzones in 2023 than in any previous year, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a new report.

A total of 280 aid workers died last year, a number the OCHA called "outrageously high" and which marks the "deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community."

"The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable, and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere."

The 280 figure represented a 117% increase over 2022. The deadliest regions for aid workers were listed as Sudan, South Sudan, and the Gaza Strip. Over half (163) were registered in Gaza in the three months after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, mainly as a result of Israeli airstrikes.

Security services in Tel Aviv were investigating a suspected terror attack after a man's backpack exploded in the southern part of the city on Sunday evening.

The bomb killed the man carrying the backpack and injured one passerby. Police believe it was meant to be part of a larger terror attack. 

President Isaac Herzog, addressing the situation during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said it appeared as though "a major terror attack" had been planned in the city.

Later on Monday, Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, top US diplomat Antony Blinken said he was "part of an intensive diplomatic effort...to try to get this agreement to the line and ultimately over the line...It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no."

Peace talks are scheduled in Cairo later this week, with Egypt, the US, and Qatar as mediators. A cease-fire has long been stalled by Israel and Hamas' refusal to budge on several points, including a proposal to permanently station Israeli troops in the middle of Gaza to control movement between the north and south.

"This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security," Blinken said amid fears that recent strikes in Lebanon and Iran could lead to a wider regional conflict. 

The militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and is supported by Iran, said on Monday that it had attacked soldiers in northern Israel.

Hezbollah said it carried out a "simultaneous air attack" with "explosive-laden drones" on a military barracks and a base near the town of Acre, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the border.

They said the strike was in retaliation for a fighter who had been killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday.

The Israeli military later confirmed that one soldier was killed in the incident and several others wounded.

Israel and Hezbollah, which supports Hamas, have been trading strikes for weeks. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv ahead of peace talks to be held in Egypt later this week.

Washington had expressed optimism about the talks. However, Hamas has said it is deeply dissatisfied with several of the proposals on the table and Israel has said it would be unwilling to compromise on many points.

Three UN peacekeeps were injured in a blast in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for weeks.

At least 19 people were killed in Gaza on Sunday, including a woman and her six children in a strike on their home, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

es/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)