Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, and Dissanayake are the main contenders for the post
world6 hours ago
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Friday on Israel to limit Palestinian civilian deaths as he worked to set up safe areas in the Gaza Strip, seeking to keep calm in the Arab world following a major Hamas attack.
After a solidarity visit to Tel Aviv, Blinken, on a six-nation tour of the Arab world, again defended Israel's right to respond but also stepped up the tone on protecting innocent Palestinians.
"We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians," Blinken told a news conference in Qatar.
"We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives," he said.
But he said that Israel was within its rights after the "unconscionable" attacks by Hamas.
"What Israel is doing is not retaliation. What Israel is doing is defending the lives of its people," he said.
Khaleej Times is now on WhatsApp Channels. Click to join.
"Any country, faced with what Israel has suffered, would likely do the same thing."
Blinken praised Qatar, which has longstanding relations with Hamas, for showing "urgency" in efforts to persuade the militants to free an estimated 150 hostages.
As anger swells around the Arab world, Blinken also discussed ways to protect civilians in Hamas-controlled Gaza where Israel called on Friday on more than one million people to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The Israeli military confirmed on Friday that ground forces had already made raids into Gaza over the past 24 hours.
A US official said Israel agreed with Blinken in the talks in Tel Aviv on "the need to establish some safe areas where civilians could relocate, be safe from Israel's legitimate security operations".
"The Israelis are committed to it," the US official told reporters on condition of anonymity on Blinken's plane.
Hamas militants on October 7 shocked Israel by breaching its southern border and killing more than 1,300 people, including children, the elderly and revellers at a music festival.
ALSO READ:
Even before an expected ground operation, Israel has killed at least 1,799 people in relentless strikes on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, and has cut off food, water and electricity.
In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that evacuating 1.1 million people would be "a tall order".
US officials also appeared to backtrack on earlier efforts to let Gazans flee to adjacent Egypt, saying they did not see wide support and instead wanted safe areas within Gaza.
Instead, the United States is working with both Egypt and Israel to let Americans and other foreign nationals leave through the Rafah border crossing, the US official said.
Blinken opened the day consulting in Amman with King Abdullah II as well as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
The Jordanian king, a longtime US partner, called for "humanitarian corridors" to bring relief into Gaza and de-escalate the situation, a statement from the royal court said.
Abdullah, whose kingdom is home to two million Palestinian refugees, warned against another permanent displacement, this time from Gaza.
"The crisis should not be spread to neighbouring countries and exacerbate the refugee issue," the king told Blinken.
Blinken later headed to Qatar, which has ties with both the United States and Hamas, whose primary foreign backer is Iran's clerical state.
Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, and Dissanayake are the main contenders for the post
world6 hours ago
His visit to Cairo aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict
world1 day ago
Hundreds of pagers belonging to the armed group exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others
world1 day ago
Over a week ago, India had reported its first case in a man who had arrived from western Africa in Delhi
world1 day ago
Government faces challenge of accelerating IMF reforms
world1 day ago
Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region
world1 day ago
The FDA's breakthrough tag is given to certain medical devices that provide treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions
world1 day ago
Around 100 of these chemicals are considered to be of 'high concern' to human health, according to lead study author Geueke
world1 day ago