Blinken Arrives in Cairo for Start of Mideast Visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (AP)
TT
20

Blinken Arrives in Cairo for Start of Mideast Visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Sunday in Egypt at the start of a Middle East trip on which he will look to notch down Israeli-Palestinian tensions after an eruption of violence.

Blinken will hold discuss the Israeli-Palestinian situation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, especially that Egypt plays a traditional role as a Middle East mediator for the Palestinians.

Blinken will travel Monday and Tuesday to Jerusalem and Ramallah after his stop in Cairo.

Blinken is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and call "broadly for steps to be taken to de-escalate tensions," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

In Egypt, Blinken is also expected to discuss regional issues such as Libya and Sudan, the State Department said.



Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
TT
20

Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)

An Israeli drone strike hit a car in south Lebanon on Saturday, killing one person who the Israeli military said was a member of Hezbollah.

State-run National News Agency did not give further details about the strike in the village of Bourj el-Mlouk.

The airstrike was the latest in a wave of such attacks since a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

The Israeli military said the Hezbollah member who was killed was active in the border village of Kfar Kila.

The strike came a day after Lebanon’s military court sentenced two people to prison terms for giving digital information to Israel.

Four judicial officials told The Associated Press Saturday that one of those sentenced received a 15-year prison term while the other was sentenced to 10 years in jail. A third was set free for lack of evidence against him, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information with the media.

The officials said the two scanned the cellular telephones network in wide areas of Beirut and its southern suburbs that is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters using sophisticated equipment.

The officials said the two, who were detained last year, also supplied Israel with about 1,500 photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs.