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Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia to discuss Israel normalization, post-war Gaza

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the first stop in a broader trip to the Middle East to discuss issues including the governance of Gaza once the war with Israel ends.

The top U.S. diplomat heads to Israel later this week, where he is expected to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the concrete and tangible steps U.S. President Joe Biden demanded this month to improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Saudi leaders and hold a wider meeting with counterparts from five Arab states – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan – to further the discussions on what governance of the Gaza Strip would look like after the war, according to a senior State Department official.

Blinken is also expected to bring together Arab countries with the European states and discuss how Europe can help the rebuilding effort of the tiny enclave, which has been reduced to a wasteland in the six-month long Israeli bombardment.

A group of European nations, including Norway, plan to recognise Palestinian statehood in conjunction with the presentation of an Arab state-backed peace plan to the United Nations.

“We can see by joining forces we can make this more meaningful. We really want to recognise the Palestinian state, but we know that is something you do once,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.

Blinkin’s trip comes as Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Islamist group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel retaliated by imposing a total siege on Gaza, then launching an air and ground assault that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, say health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Conversations over Gaza’s rebuilding and governance have been going on for months with a clear mechanism yet to emerge.

The United States agrees with Israel’s objective that Hamas needs to be eradicated and can no longer play a role in Gaza’s future but Washington does not want Israel to re-occupy the strip.

Instead, it has been looking at a structure that will include a reformed Palestinian Authority with support from Arab states.

Blinken will also discuss with Saudi authorities the efforts for a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel, a mega deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments as well as nuclear cooperation. – REUTERS

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Israel’s Netanyahu says Iran tried to kill one of his sons

It was not immediately clear which of his sons he was referring to. Netanyahu’s elder son, Yair, lives in Miami.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons, but gave no details about ​when the alleged plot took place, which son was targeted or how ‌close it came to being carried out, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu’s allegation underscores the heightened tensions since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in February, during which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian ​leaders were killed.

Netanyahu, whose coalition is trailing in opinion polls two months ​before an October 27 general election, made the claim in a ⁠telephone interview with Israel’s Channel 14. He was responding to reports that one ​of Israel’s security agencies had refused to provide protection for a political rival ahead ​of the nationwide vote.

“As for my sons. Here, I think there is something quite unbelievable, yes. Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons,” ​Netanyahu told the conservative channel known for its favourable coverage of the government.

“Iran tried ​to murder one of my sons, and therefore this security protection is not a luxury,” he ‌said, ⁠without providing any further details about the alleged plot or how close it came to being carried out.

It was not immediately clear which of his sons he was referring to. Netanyahu’s elder son, Yair, lives in Miami.

Iran’s mission at the United Nations ​in New York ​did not immediately ⁠respond to a request for comment on the accusation.

Netanyahu also said he had told the Shin Bet security agency chief David ​Zini that appropriate security should be provided for any prime ministerial ​candidate.

Israeli media ⁠had reported earlier that Zini declined to provide security for Gadi Eisenkot and told the country’s election authority there was no plot to harm him, read the report.

Eisenkot’s party is projected ⁠to win ​the largest number of seats in the election, ​although Israeli governments are usually formed through coalitions among multiple parties rather than by a single party winning ​a parliamentary majority outright.

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Norway to give over $9 billion to Ukraine in 2027

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and ​leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region ​are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of ⁠support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

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Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support ​to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in ‌line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and ​leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region ​are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of ⁠support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support ​to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in ‌line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and ​leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region ​are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of ⁠support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

Russia ​and Ukraine ⁠are both ramping up drone campaigns aiming to cripple each other’s economic infrastructure, often striking targets far beyond the frontlines ⁠of ​the war started by Moscow, as ​fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-1/2-year mark.

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Israel strikes southern Syria; Damascus condemns attack

Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and ⁠Israel occupies ​territory in southwest Syria it ​seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

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Israel said it targeted a “terrorist” in southern Syria on Saturday in what Syria’s foreign ministry ​said was a drone strike on a ‌civilian vehicle on the outskirts of Damascus in a “blatant” violation of its territory.

The Syrian foreign ministry said the drone ​had hit a civilian car on a ​road near Beit Jinn village in the ⁠countryside west of the capital, which caused injuries ​amongst civilians.

Syrian state TV reported one person was injured.

The ​Israeli military said in a statement that it fired in southern Syria toward what it described as a terrorist, ​whose activity posed an immediate threat to its ​soldiers. It did not say how it fired.

Tensions between Israel ‌and ⁠Syria flared up this week after Israel bombed an airbase in the northwest on Tuesday, an escalation U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called “unnecessary.”

Syria’s foreign ​ministry said ​the strike ⁠was part of a pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, and ​was a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty. ​It ⁠held Israel accountable for the consequences of such actions.

Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and ⁠Israel occupies ​territory in southwest Syria it ​seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

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