US Top Diplomat Blinken Speaks with Israeli and Palestinian Leaders

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media at a press conference in the State Department’s briefing room in Washington, DC, USA, 15 August 2023. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media at a press conference in the State Department’s briefing room in Washington, DC, USA, 15 August 2023. (EPA)
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US Top Diplomat Blinken Speaks with Israeli and Palestinian Leaders

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media at a press conference in the State Department’s briefing room in Washington, DC, USA, 15 August 2023. (EPA)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media at a press conference in the State Department’s briefing room in Washington, DC, USA, 15 August 2023. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday spoke with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the State Department said.

Blinken spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about expanding Israel’s regional integration and countering threats posed by Iran, the department said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the State Department said Blinken expressed continued concern about ongoing violence in the West Bank when he spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

They also discussed their support for a two-state solution and opposition to actions endangering its viability, the department said.



Russia Says It Struck Two Syrian Militant Sites

File photo: A Syrian army soldier stands next to a Syrian flag in Umm al-Mayazen, in the countryside of Daraa, Syria, July 10, 2018. (Reuters)
File photo: A Syrian army soldier stands next to a Syrian flag in Umm al-Mayazen, in the countryside of Daraa, Syria, July 10, 2018. (Reuters)
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Russia Says It Struck Two Syrian Militant Sites

File photo: A Syrian army soldier stands next to a Syrian flag in Umm al-Mayazen, in the countryside of Daraa, Syria, July 10, 2018. (Reuters)
File photo: A Syrian army soldier stands next to a Syrian flag in Umm al-Mayazen, in the countryside of Daraa, Syria, July 10, 2018. (Reuters)

Russia's air force carried out strikes on two militant sites in Syria outside the area of al-Tanf, Russia's RIA state news agency reported on Sunday, referring to the region of a US military base.
Citing Captain Oleg Ignasyuk, the report did not specify the location but said the militants had recently left the al-Tanf area, which borders Jordan, according to Reuters.
"Russian Aerospace Forces have struck two identified sites of militants who left the al-Tanf zone," RIA quoted Ignasyuk, who is also deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, as telling a briefing.