US president will also call King Abdullah II, after Jordanian minister makes last-ditch trip to Iran in bid to restrain TehranUS President Joe Biden will meet his national security team to discuss the situation in the Middle East on Monday, the White House has said, as fears grow that Iran will strike Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.Biden would also speak to Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the White House said. Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, made a rare trip to Iran at the weekend in a bid to restrain Iran.US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and emphasised “the importance of all parties taking steps to calm regional tensions, avoid further escalation, and advance stability,” the state department said. Al-Sudani told Blinken that preventing regional escalation was tied to stopping Israeli “aggression” in the Gaza Strip, Iraqi state media said.US news service Axios reported that Blinken had told his counterparts from G7 countries that Iran and Hezbollah could start attacking Israel as early as Monday, citing three sources briefed on the call. But Blinken, according to Axios, said it was unclear how Iran and Hezbollah would attack and did not know the exact timing. When asked about the report, the state department referred to a readout of the call, where it said the ministers discussed “the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East.”Israel is already in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday, and that the country was prepared for any scenario. Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said there was “no change in the Home Front Command’s defence policy” but that Israel’s protection was not “hermetic”.Israeli airstrikes hit two schools and a hospital complex in Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 30 people. The attacks on two schools in Gaza City killed at least 25 people sheltering there on Sunday, and another attack on the courtyard of al-Aqsa hospital killed at least five people and set the tents of displaced people on fire.The toll from the war in Gaza reached 39,580 on Sunday, the territory’s health authorities said. Not all the dead have been identified, but civilians make up a majority of the 25,000 who have been named. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks and tens of thousands have been injured. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/aug/05/joe-biden-iran-israel-gaza-jordan-latest-middle-east-crisis-live
Author : Casper Hughes
Publish date : 2024-08-05 07:39:45
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Middle East crisis live: Biden to meet national security team as fears grow of Iranian attack on Israel
