2024-08-14 14:41:04
Israel and Hamas are due to participate in talks this week to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. This was stated by the spokeswoman of the White House, Karin Jean-Pierre, Reuters reported.
“We believe that the negotiators should sit down at the table. We are convinced that reaching an agreement on a ceasefire is the best way to de-escalate the tensions that we are witnessing,” the spokeswoman told reporters aboard the presidential plane, in which accompanies President Joe Biden to his engagement in New Orleans, writes BTA.
According to the spokeswoman, the US was not notified in advance by Ukraine that it was planning a military invasion of Russia’s Kursk region.
US officials want Ukraine to clarify the goals of its invasion, which appears to have caught Russia off guard.
Earlier today, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed his trip to the Middle East due to tensions in the region.
Hamas fired two rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months. And Israel launched new airstrikes on the enclave.
Iran, for its part, today rejected a call by three European countries to refrain from retaliatory attacks that could further escalate regional tensions, calling the demand “excessive”.
In a joint statement yesterday, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany urged Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliating against the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh last month in Tehran. Iran blames Israel for the assassination.