Top Biden Aide Planning Israel Trip as Hard-Right Coalition Takes Power

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2022. (Reuters)
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2022. (Reuters)
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Top Biden Aide Planning Israel Trip as Hard-Right Coalition Takes Power

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2022. (Reuters)
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2022. (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, is planning a trip to Israel this month after the formation of a new government topped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a White House official said on Monday.

The meetings in Israel will come as Netanyahu's new alliance with ultra-nationalists has worried White House officials about the prospects for worsening Israel's relations with Palestinians.

On Monday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants during clashes near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian sources said.

Biden is also working to find common ground with the new Israeli government on an approach to stalled Iranian nuclear talks.

Biden said on Thursday that he looked forward to working with Netanyahu, who he called "my friend for decades," and committed "to support the two-state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values."

Dates for Sullivan's meetings have not been set yet, said the administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.



Israel Conducts More Ground Raids in Southern Lebanon, Strikes Beirut Suburbs

Rubble is scattered at the site of an Israeli overnight airstrike that targeted a house in the town of Ablah in Lebanon's Bekaa valley on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Rubble is scattered at the site of an Israeli overnight airstrike that targeted a house in the town of Ablah in Lebanon's Bekaa valley on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Conducts More Ground Raids in Southern Lebanon, Strikes Beirut Suburbs

Rubble is scattered at the site of an Israeli overnight airstrike that targeted a house in the town of Ablah in Lebanon's Bekaa valley on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Rubble is scattered at the site of an Israeli overnight airstrike that targeted a house in the town of Ablah in Lebanon's Bekaa valley on October 5, 2024. (AFP)

The Israeli military said on Saturday that special forces were carrying out ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying missiles, launchpads, watchtowers and weapons storage facilities.

The military said troops also dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border.

Israeli airstrikes also hit areas in eastern Lebanon, according to state media. At least six people were killed, according to Lebanon’s state National News Agency (NNA).

Some 1,400 Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters and civilians, have been killed and some 1.2 million driven from their homes since Israel escalated its strikes in late September aiming to cripple Hezbollah and push it away from the countries’ shared border.

On Tuesday, Israel launched a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon. Nine Israeli troops have been killed in close fighting in the area in the past few days, which is saturated with arms and explosives, the military said.

Beirut’s southern suburbs was hit by 12 Israeli airstrikes early Saturday, including one that badly damaged a large hall Hezbollah has used to hold ceremonies, said NNA.

Later in the day, more strikes hit the area, from which tens of thousands of people have fled over the past two weeks.