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Blinken entourage rushes to shelter amid Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv

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Blinken entourage rushes to shelter amid Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rolled his foundering plea for peace into Saudi Arabia on Wednesday amid intensified fighting in the region that saw his own entourage compelled to take shelter in an Israeli hotel amid a Hezbollah rocket attack.

Israel’s air force said it shot down two rockets from Lebanon that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv while Blinken was completing a visit to the city. Sky News reported that some senior State Department officials and media members at Blinken’s hotel “left the breakfast hall and rushed to the shelter downstairs” with other hotel guests and staff when the sirens went off. The New York Times reported that Blinken also briefly sheltered there.

Later, Blinken urged Israel to capitalize on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other military gains in recent weeks.

“Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success, and there are really two things left to do − get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow,” Blinken said. “That’s what we’ve been working on … and will continue to work on throughout this trip.”

Developments:

∎ The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said Wednesday that one of its staff members was killed when a vehicle was hit in the central Gaza Strip. UNRWA has drawn criticism from the Israeli government alleging many UNRWA workers have ties to Palestinian militant groups including Hamas.

∎ The Israeli Defense Forces accused six Al Jazeera reporters of having a military affiliation with pro-Palestinian militant groups − four with Hamas and two with Islamic Jihad. The Qatari media outlet denied the charges.

∎ The intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is expected to diminish Lebanon’s gross domestic product by 9%, the United Nations said. That’s a bigger economic decline than Lebanon endured during its last war with Israel in 2006.

∎ Israel says it has killed Hashem Safieddine, the heir apparent to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack last month.

Israel confirms death: Heir apparent to slain Hezbollah leader killed

The Gaza health ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said they would be unable to start a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as planned because of the intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access. A first round of vaccinations was conducted across Gaza early last month. A delay in administering a second dose reduces the impact of the effort, health officials said.

“The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and for health workers to operate,b” WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement.

The families of American-Israeli hostages met with Blinken before he left Israel, urging him to apply more pressure on the mediating countries, especially Qatar, to restart negotiations, the families said in a statement. The group said Sinwar’s killing should aid in efforts to make a hostage deal, a position the Biden administration also has pressed.

“Sinwar’s elimination presents an opportunity to restart negotiations for the return of all hostages − the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial,” the statement said. “The families, including Hamas captivity survivor Aviva Siegel, whose husband Keith remains in captivity, stressed the urgent need for a deal, warning that the hostages cannot afford any further delays or foot-dragging.”

Israeli airstrikes sent huge clouds of thick smoke above residential buildings in the Lebanese port city of Tyre, hours after issuing an online order for residents to evacuate central areas of the historic city. Tens of thousands of people have fled the streets normally jammed with fishermen, tourists and residents.

Tyre Mayor Hassan Dabouq said the city’s historic sites were not hit. Minister of Culture Mohammad al-Murtada said he urged the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to call for the city’s people and heritage sites to be protected.

“We are better off dying with dignity than living on the street,” said Batoum Zalghout, 25, who fled the latest evacuation zone for another part of the city. She said she had been already displaced with her two children five times as Israel expanded its strikes across Lebanon.

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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday appeared to be preparing Israeli pilots for a retaliatory strike on Iran, telling crews at the Hatzerim Airbase that “after we strike in Iran, everyone will understand what you did in the preparation and training process.”

Last week Gallant warned the Israeli retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian rocket barrage would be “precise and deadly.” The Iran attack was supposed to be retribution for Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, although Israeli military defenses mostly fended off the bombardment.

“Whoever in Gaza had dreams of slaughtering and annihilating us a year ago, today is not in that dream anymore,” Gallant added, according to a translation by Israeli National News. “Sinwar is no more, as well as a long line of terrorist leaders.”

Strikes across Gaza killed at least 20 people Wednesday as Israeli forces intensified a siege of northern parts of the Palestinian enclave. Medics and other witnesses reported that hospitals and refugee shelters were surrounded and residents were ordered to evacuate south.

The Israeli military said it was breaking the Hamas “siege” on the northern city of Jabalia, home to a massive Palestinian refugee camp. The military said in social media posts that over 150 Hamas militants have been arrested and that Israeli troops are “allowing citizens to evacuate for their safety in a safe manner and through organized routes.” Tens of thousands of residents evacuated from the area since Tuesday despite Hamas efforts to prevent residents from fleeing, the military said.

Contributing: Reuters

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