Blinken dangles 'transformative' change in Israel's Mideast relations: Updates

Editor's Note: For the latest on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.

In his fourth trip to the Middle East in three months, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is presenting Israel the tantalizing prospect of security and acceptance in the region, with a caveat: Agreeing to a Palestinian state is required.

Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and other leaders Tuesday in Tel Aviv, hoping to curb civilian deaths and find common ground on Gaza’s postwar future. The top U.S. diplomat, who is also trying to keep the war from expanding, arrived after visits with leaders in Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Blinken dangled the possibility of regional integration when he said nearly all those countries expressed interest in normalizing relations with Israel, a notion he has called “transformative.’’

“But they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state,’’ Blinken said at a news conference. “These goals are attainable, but only if they’re pursued together. This crisis has clarified you can’t have one without the other.''

Blinken did not answer a question about whether Israel is receptive to a Palestinian state, a likely sign Netanyahu’s opposition to that idea hasn’t wavered.

Netanyahu did not release any information on their discussion, but far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reached out to Blinken in a social media post: "Mr. Secretary Blinken, it’s not the time to speak softly with Hamas, it’s time to use that big stick."

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Developments:

∎ Jordan said it will host a meeting Wednesday with the leaders of Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to discuss the war in Gaza and surging violence in the West Bank. Jordan and Egypt have brokered peace talks between Israel and Hamas in previous wars.

∎ Hezbollah senior commander Ali Hussein Barji, reportedly the architect of several drone attacks on northern Israel, was killed in an apparent strike in southern Lebanon, the militant group said.

∎ A drone targeted a car during the funeral procession of high-ranking Hezbollah military commander Wissam Tawil, causing several injuries in the southern Lebanese town of Kherbit Selim, the Lebanese National News Agency reported. Tawil was killed Monday by an apparent Israeli drone strike on his SUV.

∎ Six Israeli troops died in a central Gaza blast and three more were killed in battles across southern Gaza, the Israeli military said. This despite military declarations that the fighting would become more targeted and there would be fewer ground troops and airstrikes.

∎ Israeli actor and singer Idan Amedi, who plays a rookie undercover agent in the hit Netflix show “Fauda,” has been hospitalized after being seriously wounded by shrapnel while serving in Gaza, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Postwar Gaza: Mideast nations want to help shape plan

Palestinians 'must not be pressed to leave Gaza,' Blinken says

Blinken said he and Israeli leaders agreed to a plan for the U.N. to conduct an “assessment mission’’ to determine what will be required for Palestinians to return safely to their homes in northern Gaza.

“In today’s meetings I was also crystal clear: Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow,'' Blinken said. "They must not be pressed to leave Gaza.''

Some high-level Israeli ministers have advocated resettling Palestinians elsewhere, but Blinken said Netanyahu assured him that's not his government's policy.

Blinken said the nations he visited also expressed interest in helping plan Gaza's future. He said he would visit with the families of some of the hostages and "discuss our relentless efforts to bring everyone home and back with their families."

Ex-hostage says other women were sexually abused, tortured

A former Hamas hostage told the Israeli parliament she believes other women were sexually abused and tortured during her 51 days in captivity.

Testifying on Tuesday at a special hearing of the Knesset focusing on the nearly 140 hostages still in Gaza, Aviva Spiegel said their captors tortured a woman right next to her whom they believed was an Israeli army officer.

Spiegel, 62, said another female hostage seemed agitated when she returned from the bathroom. One of the captors "touched her. And he didn’t even allow me to hug her after it happened. It’s awful, just awful,” Spiegel said, visibly upset. She did not elaborate on the abuse.

Spiegel and her husband, Keith Siegel, 64, were among the approximately 240 hostages kidnapped by militants in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel border communities. She was released during a late-November cease-fire, but her husband remains captive, and she pleaded with lawmakers to bring him back.

Israel to 'intensify' pursuit of Hamas leaders in southern Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Blinken that Israel will “intensify” military efforts in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza until Hamas leaders are captured or killed and the Israeli hostages are freed.

The Israeli military in recent days has announced plans to continue the war with fewer troops and less bombing. But Gallant made clear the pursuit of Hamas militants who may have fled northern Gaza will be stepped up.

Saudis still seek normalization of ties with Israel

Saudi Arabia wants to normalize relations with Israel after the war in Gaza, but any deal must lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, the Saudi ambassador to Britain said Tuesday. Prince Khalid bin Bandar told the BBC a pact was "close" when U.S.-brokered talks were halted after Hamas' attack on Israel. Saudi Arabia, which has never recognized Israel's right to exist, still seeks ties with Israel despite the "deplorable" casualty figures in Gaza, the prince said.

He also said the West must treat Israel the same as it treats other nations. "The blind spot toward Israel is a real problem because it provides a blind spot to peace," he said.

Hamas leader pleads for more weapons

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday urged Muslim states to support his war against Israel with weapons as well as humanitarian aid, saying Hamas' fight is not solely for the Palestinian people.

"We see that the countries of the world are pouring weapons to the occupation through air bridges and aircraft carriers, and the time has come to support the resistance with weapons," said Haniyeh, speaking at the World Federation of Muslim Scholars Conference in Doha, Qatar.

Haniyeh said the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was fueled by the "marginalization" of the Palestinian issue, an Israeli government that he said prioritized displacement of Palestinians, clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the "normalization and integration of occupation" by Israel in the region.

"Our Palestinian people and our resistance decided that a reality in this way cannot be confronted with traditional means," Haniyeh said.

The more than 100 Israeli hostages being held by the militants in Gaza will not be freed until the thousands of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons are released, he stressed.

A birthday wish for the youngest hostage

The U.N. General Assembly convened for a discussion on the war in Gaza, and Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, used the moment to celebrate the first birthday of the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas. Kfir's brother, Ariel, 4, and parents, Shiri Bibas, 32, and Yarden Bibas, 34, also remain in Hamas custody. Erdan held up a birthday cake with a picture of Kfir on it, Israel's Channel 7 National News reported.

"Kfir, this birthday cake is for you," Erdan said from the podium. "You are the reason Israel is fighting day and night.  My only wish for you, for your first birthday, is that next year, God willing, you will celebrate your birthday surrounded by the love of your family, and that we will live in a world where the suffering of Israeli babies is important to the U.N."

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: Blinken dangles security in Middle East