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Blinken in Israel for 'Landmark' Arab Talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv - AP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv - AP
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Blinken in Israel for 'Landmark' Arab Talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv - AP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv - AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel Sunday for a "historic" meeting with Arab countries which have normalized relations with the Jewish state in the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Blinken, who arrived in Tel Aviv Saturday evening, will meet with his counterparts from Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in the Negev desert Sunday and Monday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described it as a "historic summit".

Blinken's visit, the first stop in a trip that will also take him to the West Bank, Algeria and Morocco -- where he will hold talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed -- is focused in part on building support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

US officials say two other key issues are on the agenda for the trip: quelling the Jewish state's worries about a looming nuclear deal with Iran, and discussing the potential global wheat shortage caused by the Ukraine war that could deal a heavy blow to the import-dependent Middle East.

"We know this pain is keenly felt in the Middle East and North Africa, where most countries import at least half of their wheat", much of it from Ukraine, State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Yael Lempert said ahead of the trip, AFP reported.

The war "will only continue to increase the price of basic staples like bread in the region, taking money from the pockets of the hardest working and most vulnerable families," she said.

The trip comes as the United States and Iran are in the final stages of negotiating a revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapons capacity.

The administration of former US president Donald Trump quit the deal unilaterally in 2018 and reimposed punishing economic sanctions, and Iran has since resumed many of its sensitive nuclear activities.

The conclusion of a renewed accord could come in a matter of "days", EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is coordinating talks with Tehran, said Saturday.

"We are very close but there are still some issues pending," Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar.

Blinken will also meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

After Israel, Blinken will travel to Morocco and Algeria to talk about regional security and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

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Arab World

French Soldier Dies of Wounds After Attack on UN Force in Lebanon

This handout photo posted on April 22, 2026, on the social media X account of France's president shows a portrait of French Army Staff Sergeant Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Canine Infantry Regiment, who died of injuries on April 22 following an attack on April 18, 2026 against UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon. (X account of France's President Emmanuel Macron / AFP)
This handout photo posted on April 22, 2026, on the social media X account of France's president shows a portrait of French Army Staff Sergeant Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Canine Infantry Regiment, who died of injuries on April 22 following an attack on April 18, 2026 against UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon. (X account of France's President Emmanuel Macron / AFP)
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French Soldier Dies of Wounds After Attack on UN Force in Lebanon

This handout photo posted on April 22, 2026, on the social media X account of France's president shows a portrait of French Army Staff Sergeant Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Canine Infantry Regiment, who died of injuries on April 22 following an attack on April 18, 2026 against UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon. (X account of France's President Emmanuel Macron / AFP)
This handout photo posted on April 22, 2026, on the social media X account of France's president shows a portrait of French Army Staff Sergeant Anicet Girardin of the 132nd Canine Infantry Regiment, who died of injuries on April 22 following an attack on April 18, 2026 against UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon. (X account of France's President Emmanuel Macron / AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that a second French soldier had died following an attack on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon last week, which he said was carried out by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The soldier, Chief Corporal Anicet Girardin, was severely wounded on April 18 and died of his wounds after ‌being evacuated to ‌France on Tuesday, Macron said in ‌a ⁠post on social ⁠media platform X.

One of his colleagues was killed immediately while clearing a road in southern Lebanon in the same attack on the UN peacekeeping mission.

Macron blamed Hezbollah for the attack.

UNIFIL said initial assessments indicated the fire came from non-state ⁠actors, allegedly Hezbollah, and that an ‌investigation had been launched into ‌what it called "a deliberate attack".

Hezbollah has denied any ‌involvement, expressing its "surprise at positions that rushed ‌to make baseless accusations" against the group.

During a visit to Paris on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he was personally following the investigation into the incident.

"I ‌have instructed the police force to carry out all necessary inquiries in order ⁠to ⁠identify those responsible and bring them to justice," he said.

France, which has deep historical ties to Lebanon, has about 700 troops as part of the UNIFIL mission.

Three French soldiers have now died in the region since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February. One was killed earlier in northern Iraq after a drone attack on a French-Kurdish base.

Since 1978, more than 160 French soldiers have been killed in Lebanon.

Arab World

Lebanon to Request One-month Truce Extension in Israel Meeting

Diggers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes as they look for survivors buried underneath in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Diggers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes as they look for survivors buried underneath in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Lebanon to Request One-month Truce Extension in Israel Meeting

Diggers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes as they look for survivors buried underneath in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Diggers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes as they look for survivors buried underneath in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

Lebanon will request a one-month extension of the ceasefire during its meeting with Israel in Washington on Thursday, a Lebanese official told AFP.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the topic, said "Lebanon will request an extension of the truce for one month, an end of Israel's bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present, and a commitment to the ceasefire".

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that "contacts are underway to extend the ceasefire period", which began last week and is set to expire Sunday.

Israel to Lebanon: Cooperation Required on Your Side

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking to diplomats during an event marking the 78th anniversary of Israel’s “independence” on Wednesday, called on Lebanon to cooperate and make joint efforts to confront Hezbollah.

Saar said: “Tomorrow, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington. I call on the Lebanese government to cooperate with us against the state of terrorism that Hezbollah has built on your territory.”

He added: “This cooperation is required more from your side than from ours. It requires moral clarity and the courage to take risks. But there is no real alternative to ensuring a future of peace for you and for us.”

Lebanon and Israel have been formally at war since 1948. Israel took control of additional areas in southern Lebanon after the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.

The war between Hezbollah and Israel has resulted in the deaths of more than 2,400 people and the displacement of around one million on the Lebanese side.

Despite a ceasefire being in effect, Israeli forces still occupy areas in southern Lebanon and continue to operate there.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that his country would use its “full force” in Lebanon if its soldiers were threatened.

Under the terms of the truce, Israel says it retains the right to act against “planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”

The Israeli army announced last week the establishment of a “yellow line” separating areas in southern Lebanon, similar to the line that separates its forces from areas controlled by Hamas in Gaza.

Arab World

Report Says US Blocked $500M Cash Shipment to Iraq Over Pro-Iran Attacks

An Iraqi man walks past shops in the Jamila food market in Sadr City, east Baghdad on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
An Iraqi man walks past shops in the Jamila food market in Sadr City, east Baghdad on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Report Says US Blocked $500M Cash Shipment to Iraq Over Pro-Iran Attacks

An Iraqi man walks past shops in the Jamila food market in Sadr City, east Baghdad on April 13, 2026. (AFP)
An Iraqi man walks past shops in the Jamila food market in Sadr City, east Baghdad on April 13, 2026. (AFP)

The United States blocked a plane carrying nearly $500 million in banknotes from delivering the cash to Iraq, US media reported on Tuesday, piling pressure on Baghdad to fight Iran-backed armed factions. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington has suspended cash shipments to Iraq and frozen funding for security programs following attacks on US interests in the country by groups showing solidarity with Iran. 

Iraq has long walked a tightrope between the competing influences of its allies, neighboring Iran and the United States. 

However, Iraqi leaders have struggled to maintain that delicate balance as war engulfs the Middle East. 

The US State Department said this month it had summoned Iraq's ambassador to Washington to express "strong condemnation" of attacks by pro-Iran groups on US interests, "including the April 8 ambush of US diplomats in Baghdad". 

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Treasury Department blocked a shipment of nearly $500 million in cash from Iraqi oil sales, quoting US and Iraqi officials. 

AFP has contacted the Treasury Department for comment. 

The United States has leverage over Iraq because the country's oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, under an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. 

The Wall Street Journal quoted unidentified US officials as saying that the suspension on cash shipments was temporary. 

The Central Bank of Iraq has not commented specifically about the reports. 

However, it said on Tuesday it was not lacking US dollars and that it had "fulfilled all requests from banks and exchange companies for US dollars, which are intended for pilgrims, travelers and foreign transfers." 

The funding freeze to security programs includes training for Iraq's army and counterterror efforts against the ISIS group, The New York Times reported.