عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Conflict in Middle East Could Escalate, US National Security Adviser Warns

An Israeli tank maneuvers at an undisclosed location on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 15, 2023. (AFP)
An Israeli tank maneuvers at an undisclosed location on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 15, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

Conflict in Middle East Could Escalate, US National Security Adviser Warns

An Israeli tank maneuvers at an undisclosed location on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 15, 2023. (AFP)
An Israeli tank maneuvers at an undisclosed location on the border with the Gaza Strip on October 15, 2023. (AFP)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday of the risk of conflict escalating in the Middle East, and said the US is trying to find safe passage for American citizens out of Gaza into Egypt.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it would continue to allow Gazans to evacuate south ahead of an expected ground assault by its forces on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for unprecedented attacks inside Israel by Hamas militants eight days ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians.

Sullivan, who spoke to CBS's "Face the Nation", said the US is focused on making sure the civilian population leaving Gaza have access to food, water and shelter, and that they can make it into safe areas.

"There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north and, of course, Iran's involvement," Sullivan said. The United States remains concerned about proxy forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah, he said.

The vast majority of the population of Gaza has nothing to do with Hamas, Sullivan said on another network on Sunday, and they "deserve dignity, safety and security."

He said the US is not interfering with Israel's military planning, but is emphasizing publicly and in private conversations international law around the war and the need for Israel to recognize democratic rights.

Authorities in Gaza have said more than 2,300 people had been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded so far. The enclave's hospitals are running short of medical supplies and struggling to cope with the flow of injured.

US President Joe Biden's decision to send an aircraft carrier to the region sends a clear message of deterrence "to any actor that would seek to exploit the situation," Sullivan said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
TT
TT

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.