Middle East updates: Blinken calls for end to Gaza war
Published November 13, 2024last updated November 13, 2024
What you need to know
- Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for Israel to wind down its war in Gaza.
- Blinken said Israel had achieved its military goals.
- Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants claim to have attacked an Israeli military base in Tel Aviv with exploding drones.
- The US has charged a government employee with leaking classified documents outlining Israeli plans to attack Iran.
This is a roundup of the latest developments in the conflicts in the Middle East in November 13, 2024:
EU top diplomat suggests suspending political dialogue with Israel — reports
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is proposing that EU member states suspend regular political dialogue with Israel over allegations from international aid organizations that Israel is violating human rights and international humanitarian law in Gaza, according to reports from the DPA and Reuters news agencies.
In the letter sent on Wednesday to EU foreign ministers, Borrell said there were "serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza" and that "thus far, these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed by Israel."
"In light of the above considerations, I will be tabling a proposal that the EU should invoke the human rights clause to suspend the political dialogue with Israel," Borrell wrote, according to Reuters news agency, which said it had seen the letter to EU ministers.
Borrell, who is set to be replaced as the EU's top diplomat by Kaja Kallas, has been a staunch critic of Israel's military operations in Gaza.
His initiative will be on the agenda during the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, the news agencies reported.
Political dialogue with Israel is regulated by the EU-Israel Association Agreement that went into force in 2000. The agreement provides for regular exchanges to strengthen the partnership.
It also states that relations between the sides are based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.
A suspension would need approval from all 27 EU countries. Some EU countries, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, are staunch backers of Israel while others, such as Spain and Ireland, stress their support for Palestinians.
US indicts employee who leaked Israeli plans for attacking Iran
A US government employee was indicted by federal prosecutors Wednesday on charges that he "willfully transmitted classified information" regarding Israeli plans for attacking regional archenemy Iran.
Court documents say the leak occurred on or about October 17 — the same time a pro-Iranian Telegram account called the Middle East Spectator published what appeared to be a pair of documents produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Those uploaded documents contained information about Israel's preparations for an attack on Iran.
The intelligence in the documents was based on satellite imagery from October 15-16.
The Middle East Spectator previously said it received the documents from an anonymous source and that it had no contact to the original leaker, nor could it verify the authenticity of the documents.
In October, the FBI confirmed it was investigating who had leaked the documents.
According to the indictment, dated November 7, investigators believe the leak came from Cambodia.
The suspect was arrested in Cambodia on November 12 and is expected to make an arraignment appearance in a federal court in Guam on November 14 before he is transferred to stand trial in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Hezbollah claims Israel attacks
The Iran-back Islamist militia Hezbollah on Wednesday announced that it had carried out drone attacks against Israel.
A statement released by the group said it had launched a drone attack targeting Hakirya military base, which houses Israel's military headquarters and ministry of defense in the city of Tel Aviv.
The Lebanese militant group said it conducted an "aerial attack with a squadron of exploding drones" on the site housing Israel's main defense institutions in the commercial hub.
The Israeli military said that it intercepted two drones and 40 projectiles launched from Lebanon and that the attack had caused no injuries.
The statements did not specify what sites had been targeted.
Blinken calls on Israel to allow Gazans to return home
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called for Israel to allow Palestinians back into Gaza as well as ensuring aid can be delivered to the embattled enclave.
Speaking in Brussels, the departing US diplomat said Israel had achieved its aims in Gaza and should now end the war as it continues to spread across the region.
"The situation is so difficult and so dramatic that to fully redress it, to fully answer the needs of people, the best way to do that is to end the war," Blinken said.
US secretary of state said Israel had accomplished its goals of dismantling the military wing of Hamas, which initiated this latest war with an unprovoked attack on Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, and ensuring that no similar attack could be launched by the militant Islamist group again.
"Israel, by the standards it set itself, has accomplished the strategic goals it set for itself. So this should be a time to end the war."
Blinken added that hundreds of aid trucks in Gaza could not distribute relief supplies due to looting and other crimes.
"It's imperative that that be addressed. Israel has responsibilities to do that. We're also working with Egypt," he said.
Additionally, Blinken called for "real and extended pauses" in the fighting in much of Gaza "so that the assistance can effectively get to people who need it."
The US had initially set a 30-day deadline for Israel to takes steps to make sure aid gets delivered to Gaza or face cuts to US-Israel arms shipments.
That deadline has passed with no noticeable improvement in the humanitarian situation.
js/jcg (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)