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US Top Diplomat Rubio Discusses Iran, Gaza Hostages with Israeli PM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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US Top Diplomat Rubio Discusses Iran, Gaza Hostages with Israeli PM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi at the State Department in Washington, US, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to reiterate Washington's support for its ally, and the two also discussed Iran and Israeli hostages in Gaza, the State Department said.
The call was Rubio's first with Israel since the administration of Republican President Donald Trump took office on Monday. Trump and his predecessor, Democratic former President Joe Biden, have both been supporters of Israel during its wars in Gaza and Lebanon, Reuters said.
Rubio underscored that "maintaining the United States' steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for Trump," the State Department said in a statement.
Rubio told Netanyahu that Washington will continue to work "tirelessly" to help free the remaining hostages in Gaza, the State Department added.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas group attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry says, while also leading to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The assault displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza and caused a hunger crisis.
A ceasefire went into effect on Sunday and has led to the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Rights groups have criticized the mounting humanitarian crisis from Israel's military assault. Washington has maintained its support, saying it is helping its ally in its defense against Iran-backed militant groups including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi group in Yemen.
"The Secretary also conveyed (to Netanyahu) that he looks forward to addressing the threats posed by Iran and pursuing opportunities for peace," the State Department said.

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One Dead, 31 Wounded in Russian Strike on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

A view shows debris on a road near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows debris on a road near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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One Dead, 31 Wounded in Russian Strike on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

A view shows debris on a road near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows debris on a road near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia unleashed a drone and missile strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing one, wounding 31 others and leaving tens of thousands without power or heat, officials said on Thursday.
The attack destroyed an energy facility and cut power to more than 20,000 residents and heat to some 17,000, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov, Reuters said.
He said Russian forces struck the city with drones first, then with ballistic missiles during an air-raid alert lasting more than six hours.
Among the wounded was a two-month-old infant as well as rescuers who had responded to the first wave of the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on social media.
Early on Thursday, police and rescue workers combed through the rubble of a decimated apartment building and helped evacuate elderly residents. One building was destroyed and another 30 were damaged, Fedorov said.
A resident who was searching the gutted remains of his apartment described the attack.
"I flew off the couch to get dressed, and, running to the cabinet, I was covered in debris, after which I climbed out and heard my wife screaming," Serhiy, 35, said.
Zaporizhzhia, a strategic industrial city near front-line fighting, has come under frequent attack by Russian forces.
Kyiv's air force said Russia had fired four ballistic missiles at the city, part of a mass overnight attack on Ukraine that also included 92 drones.
Air defenses shot down 57 and another 27 were "locationaly lost", it added.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities behind the front line of its three-year-old invasion, targeting the country's weakened energy grid in particular.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Moscow's forces had attacked Ukraine's energy system 1,200 times since 2022.
New US President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the conflict and Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerned about its impact on Russia's economy but Ukraine says Moscow's insistence on retaining conquered territory is a non-starter.