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US Tells Israel that Escalations in Middle East Serve No One

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
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US Tells Israel that Escalations in Middle East Serve No One

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Friday that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was "in no party's interest" while also stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire, the State Department said.
There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after recent killings of Palestinian group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
As a result, many fear a widening of Israel's war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Reuters said.
"The Secretary reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and discussed how escalation is in no party's interest," the State Department said in a statement.
Blinken stressed the "urgent need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza" that could release hostages held in the enclave and "create the conditions for broader regional stability," the State Department added.
A day earlier, Gallant spoke to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the situation in the region.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel's military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.
President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have consistently run into obstacles.

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Philippine Military Says Chinese Air Force Jets Endangered Its Patrol Plane with Risky Maneuver

Philippine Coast Guard personnel (L) maneuver their rigid hull inflatable boat past their Vietnamese counterparts (R) during a joint maritime off Bataan in the disputed South China Sea on August 9, 2024. (AFP)
Philippine Coast Guard personnel (L) maneuver their rigid hull inflatable boat past their Vietnamese counterparts (R) during a joint maritime off Bataan in the disputed South China Sea on August 9, 2024. (AFP)
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Philippine Military Says Chinese Air Force Jets Endangered Its Patrol Plane with Risky Maneuver

Philippine Coast Guard personnel (L) maneuver their rigid hull inflatable boat past their Vietnamese counterparts (R) during a joint maritime off Bataan in the disputed South China Sea on August 9, 2024. (AFP)
Philippine Coast Guard personnel (L) maneuver their rigid hull inflatable boat past their Vietnamese counterparts (R) during a joint maritime off Bataan in the disputed South China Sea on August 9, 2024. (AFP)

The Philippine military chief condemned Saturday what he said was the provocative actions of two Chinese air force aircraft that executed a dangerous maneuver and dropped flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol in the South China Sea.

All those aboard the Philippine air force NC-212i light transport plane were unharmed and returned safely to Clark Air Base north of Manila after Thursday morning’s incident over the Scarborough Shoal, Gen. Romeo Brawner said without providing other details.

There was no immediate reaction from Chinese officials in Manila or Beijing, which dispute sovereign control over the rich fishing atoll.

“The incident posed a threat to Philippine air force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation,” Brawner said in a statement.

The incident has been reported to Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs, which has filed numerous diplomatic protests against China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

Brawner suggested the incident would not stop the Philippines from undertaking such patrols in the contested region.

"We reaffirm our commitment to exercise our rights in accordance with international law,” Brawner said.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared since last year between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough and another hotly disputed atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal.

The United States has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.