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Blinken to Netanyahu: US Will 'Always be There'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, Thursday Oct. 12, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, Thursday Oct. 12, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)
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Blinken to Netanyahu: US Will 'Always be There'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, Thursday Oct. 12, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, Thursday Oct. 12, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Benjamin Netanyahu he understood on a personal level 'the harrowing echoes that Hamas' massacres carry for Israeli Jews' and Washington was at Israel's side.
From a podium next to the Israeli prime minister at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Thursday, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint in its retaliation, in his most direct plea so far, asking that it take every possible precaution to protect civilian life.
Washington's top diplomat embarked on a multi-country Middle East tour as Israel unleashes the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, vowing to annihilate Hamas - which rules the Gaza Strip - in retribution for the militants' weekend attacks.
Blinken will also try to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, some thought to be Americans, and advance talks with Israelis and Egyptians on providing a safe passage for Gaza civilians out of the enclave before a possible Israeli ground invasion.
At least 25 Americans were killed in the Hamas attacks, he said.
"You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. But as long as America exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side," Blinken told Netanyahu.
He also offered an emotional, personal aside, recounting how his grandfather fled pogroms in Russia and his stepfather survived Nazi concentration camps.
"I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas' massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed, for Jews everywhere," he said.

Blinken will arrive in Qatar on Friday to discuss with its prime minister developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict, ways to de-escalate it and the protection of civilians, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said.

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Arab World

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's Houthi-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The militants have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeidah, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeidah port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
“The targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,” the statement said. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the militants “have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.”
“Israel will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,” Hagari said.
Houthi-held Hodeidah, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decades long war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country’s territory.
“Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,” the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeidah again, killing at least four people after a militant missile targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the US military's Central Command said it hit “a key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.