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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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Venezuela’s Maduro Rejects Panama’s Offer of Safe Passage

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
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Venezuela’s Maduro Rejects Panama’s Offer of Safe Passage

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the press at the Supreme Court where he arrived for procedures related to the court's audit of presidential election results in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Behind is an image of Independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave a scathing response to an offer on Friday from his Panamanian counterpart, Jose Raul Mulino, to facilitate his departure to a third country to allow for a political transition.

Mulino told broadcaster CNN he would give Maduro safe passage to act as a "bridge" to a third country, in the aftermath of a July 28 election Maduro says he won but independent pollsters claim as an opposition landslide.

"If that's the contribution, the sacrifice that Panama has to make, by offering our soil so that this man and his family can leave Venezuela, Panama would do it without a doubt," Mulino said in an interview.

But Maduro accused the Panamanian president, who himself was elected to office just three months ago, of getting "carried away by the gringos," using a derogatory term for Americans.

"I will try to learn your name, President of Panama, but whoever messes with Venezuela runs aground," Maduro told reporters outside a courtroom where he filed an appeal to verify the electoral results.

Panama has also agreed a deal with the United States under which the latter will pay for flights to deport migrants who cross the country's Darien Gap, a dangerous stretch of jungle that joins to the South American continent and a route more than 200,000 have taken so far in 2024, many hoping to reach the US.

Last year, Venezuelans made up over 60% of some half a million migrants who crossed the Darien in search of better opportunities and security abroad.

Maduro has claimed a 51% victory in last month's election, while the political opposition maintains its candidate won by millions of votes. Venezuela's electoral authority has yet to release detailed vote tallies.

Panama is part of a group of Latin American countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Venezuela since the disputed July 28 election, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Uruguay.

Mulino has called for a regional summit to discuss the elections' outcome, and told CNN on Friday that seven presidents had confirmed their attendance.

He said the summit could take place in the Dominican Republic to coincide with the inauguration of President Luis Abinader, which is scheduled for Aug. 16.