WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this weekend to push forward a Gaza ceasefire deal as the United States tries to bridge the gaps in talks in the region, the State Department said.
Blinken will leave Saturday and seek to “conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal” presented Friday during talks in Doha by the United States, a State Department statement said.
President Joe Biden earlier Friday said that “we are closer than we have ever been” to a ceasefire in the 10-month-old Gaza war after two days of talks in the Qatari capital Doha.
Biden spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to discuss the “significant progress” in the talks, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said.
Biden and the two key Arab leaders had publicly urged Hamas and Israel to join the talks.
The White House earlier said diplomats will keep working on details with a hope to conclude the accord later next week in Cairo.
“This proposal would achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza and create the conditions for broader regional stability,” the State Department statement said.
“Secretary Blinken will underscore the critical need for all parties in the region to avoid escalation or any other actions that could undermine the ability to finalize an agreement,” it said.
It will be the ninth trip by Blinken to the Middle East since Hamas on October 7 carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel, which has responded with a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
The State Department did not immediately announce any stops after Israel. Blinken has met with key Arab allies on previous trips.
Blinken to head to Israel this weekend to press Gaza truce
https://arab.news/z9uhr
Blinken to head to Israel this weekend to press Gaza truce
- White House earlier said diplomats will keep working on details with hope to conclude accord later next week in Cairo
- The State Department did not immediately announce any stops after Israel
Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains
- The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.
Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.
Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.
“The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention,” Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defense in Tunis, recently told AFP.
“Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.
Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.
- Scared -
Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.
“Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.”
“I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”
Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.
One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.
“Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.
Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.
When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”
One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers.”
“We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.
- Highly unstable -
Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.
The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said Al-Baji, who had established a religious center there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.
The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.
Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.
Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.
The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.
He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanization, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.
For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.
