EU foreign policy chief warns ‘Middle East might end up in flames’ if conflict escalates
The international community must impose a solution to the Israel- Gaza conflict as the warring sides are unable to come to terms, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.
At an event in Lisbon, he said:
I believe that we have learned in these 30 years that the solution has to be imposed from outside because the two parties will never be able to reach an agreement.
If this tragedy doesn’t end soon, the entire Middle East might end up in flames.
The war reached deep into Lebanon on Tuesday with the killing in Beirut of the Hamas deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, in a drone strike. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed al-Arouri, Reuters reports.
Borrell added:
What happened yesterday with the death of one of the leaders of Hamas is yet another factor that could push the conflict to escalate
Borrell said he had plans to visit the Middle East, including Lebanon, to “explore ways out” of the conflict.
He added that he would present to the EU member states a proposal to create a mission to contribute to security in the Red Sea, which has seen ships targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they consider to have Israeli-links.
The proposal is set to be presented on Thursday and would require unanimity among member states for it to go ahead, he said.
Key events
Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, has said more about the attacks in central Iran earlier on Wednesday at the memorial event for the US killing of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, four years ago.
After condemning “terrorism in all its forms” and sending condolences to Iran, Putin also said the attack, which has killed many members of the general public attending the event, was “shocking in its cruelty and cynicism,” Reuters reports.
No entity has yet declared responsibility for the explosions at the event. Russia and Iran are strategic allies.
The explosions occurred close to the tomb where Suleimani is buried, in the central Iranian city of Kerman.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has just condemned “terrorism in all its forms” and sent condolences to its ally Iran after the violent events there today.
Two explosions killed at least 103 people and injured scores more at a memorial ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the US killing of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the most powerful men in the Middle East.
Putin is speaking out after the attack that took place at the cemetery in the central Iranian city of Kerman, Reuters is reporting, citing Russian domestic news agency RIA.
A senior official there has called the blasts a “terroristic” attack, without elaborating on who could be behind them. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for what appeared to be the deadliest attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
We’ll bring you more of Putin’s statement shortly.
Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah to make speech after death of senior Hamas leader
Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah is expected to make a speech at the top of the hour in response to the assassination of the senior Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday in Lebanon, where the pro-Hamas, Iran-backed Hezbollah group is based.
The Islamist groups have blamed Israel for the drone strike that killed Arouri yesterday, with most signs pointing to Israel on this even though the government there has not declared that it was responsible.
This will be the third time Nasrallah has made a speech relating to the Israeli war on Hamas and massive offensive in Gaza since October 7 when Hamas operatives broke out of Gaza into southern Israel and perpetrated a massacre there and took back hostages, many of whom are still being held.
We’ll bring you highlights in English from what Nasrallah has to say as soon as possible.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of UNRWA, has criticised the “dehumanisation” of Palestinians during the conflict.
In a post on social media, the chief of the UN’s mission to assist Palestinian refugees said:
Gaza: three long months of a brutal war, mass displacement, mass human losses and injuries, mass destruction. Unbearable suffering made worse by constant dehumanisation and promotion of hate speech going unchecked.
#Gaza: 🛑🛑 three long months of a brutal war: mass displacement, mass human losses & injuries, mass destruction.
Unbearable suffering made worse by constant dehumanization & promotion of hate speech going unchecked. pic.twitter.com/mZz5HLyWDO
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) January 3, 2024
At least 85% of Gaza’s population has been displaced by Israeli military action, and the local health authority states that over 22,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since 7 October.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will visit Turkey on Saturday to discuss bilateral and regional issues, Turkey’s foreign ministry has announced.
Blinken has been a frequent visitor to the region since the Hamas attack inside southern Israel on 7 October. Israel’s response to the attack has strained its fragile diplomatic relations with Turkey, which has recalled its representatives.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has also compared the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Adolf Hitler in public, and said his country was committed to bringing Israeli leaders before the international criminal court in The Hague.
Yemenis have marched in the Houthi-controlled capital of Sana’a today in solidarity with Palestine, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
EU foreign policy chief warns ‘Middle East might end up in flames’ if conflict escalates
The international community must impose a solution to the Israel- Gaza conflict as the warring sides are unable to come to terms, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.
At an event in Lisbon, he said:
I believe that we have learned in these 30 years that the solution has to be imposed from outside because the two parties will never be able to reach an agreement.
If this tragedy doesn’t end soon, the entire Middle East might end up in flames.
The war reached deep into Lebanon on Tuesday with the killing in Beirut of the Hamas deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, in a drone strike. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed al-Arouri, Reuters reports.
Borrell added:
What happened yesterday with the death of one of the leaders of Hamas is yet another factor that could push the conflict to escalate
Borrell said he had plans to visit the Middle East, including Lebanon, to “explore ways out” of the conflict.
He added that he would present to the EU member states a proposal to create a mission to contribute to security in the Red Sea, which has seen ships targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they consider to have Israeli-links.
The proposal is set to be presented on Thursday and would require unanimity among member states for it to go ahead, he said.
Iranian state TV have said at least 103 people were killed in what senior officials described as “terrorist attacks” at a memorial ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the US killing of Qassem Suleimani, Reuters reports.
Read more here
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Wednesday he would present to member states a proposal to create a mission to contribute to security in the Red Sea.
Borrell told reporters at an event in Lisbon that the proposal would be presented on Thursday and would require unanimity among member states, Reuters reports.
Related: Israel-Gaza war: will the Red Sea crisis lead to a wider Middle East conflict?
At least 73 dead in blasts at memorial for Qassem Suleimani
Two explosions have killed at least 73 people and injured scores more at a memorial ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the US killing of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the most powerful men in the Middle East.
A senior official called the blasts a “terroristic” attack, without elaborating on who could be behind them.
Initial eyewitness reports spoke of two explosions 10 minutes apart in the south central city of Kerman, while some reports spoke of four different explosions, suggesting that the incident was a highly sophisticated attack.
State-run media in Iran cited Babak Yektaparast, a spokesperson for the country’s emergency service, as saying 73 people had been killed and 170 wounded.
Read more here
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a delegation from US Congress that the current priority was to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a presidency statement.
Sisi stressed the importance of “responsible action” to avoid widening the conflict in the region, the statement added.
Local official: explosions in Kerman in Iran caused by ‘terrorist attacks’
Reuters is carrying a quote from a local official in Kerman province saying that the two explosions reported earlier at a ceremony in Iran were “caused by terrorist attacks”.
The semi-official Nournews had said earlier that “several gas canisters exploded on the road leading to the cemetery”.
State TV showed Red Crescent rescuers attending to wounded people at the ceremony to mark the 2020 death of the country’s top commander Qassem Suleimani in a US drone attack that had been ordered by then-US president Donald Trump.
Hundreds of Iranians had gathered. Some Iranian news agencies said at least 50 people were wounded, and it has been reported that at least 20 people have been killed.
The situation remains confused and unclear. The Guardian has seen video footage which appears to show smoke rising in the distance above a large crowd of people.
“Our rapid response teams are evacuating the injured … But there are waves of crowds blocking roads,” Reza Fallah, head of the Kerman province Red Crescent told state TV in Iran.
More details soon …
