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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 5 January 2024

Blinken heads to the Mideast again as fears of regional conflict surge

Continued from Front telegraphing that his group
had no interest in engaging
Blinken leaves late Thursday in a full-on war with Israel.
on his latest extended Mide- On Wednesday, however,
ast tour, which will take him following the killing of Arouri,
to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Nasrallah took a more bel-
Qatar, the United Arab Emir- ligerent tone and appeared
ates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the to be making a case to the
West Bank and Egypt. Lebanese people that a wid-
Apart from Gaza-specific er war might be necessary.
priorities he will bring to Is- Nasrallah said Hezbollah had
rael — including pressing so far calibrated between
for a dramatic increase in “the need to support Gaza
humanitarian aid to Gaza, and to take into account
a shift toward less intense Lebanese national inter-
military operations and a ests,” which have limited its
concerted effort to rein in military involvement. But he
violence against Palestinians said in the event that “war is
in the occupied West Bank launched on us, then Leba-
by Jewish settlers — Blinken nese national interests re-
will be seeking regional as- quire that we take the war
sistance in calming the situ- Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department, Dec. 7, 2023, in Washington. to the end, without limits.”
Associated Press
ation. On Thursday, an armed
“It is in no one’s interest, not head of the Washington- non and sent two aircraft of planning for the adminis- unmanned surface vessel
Israel’s, not the region’s, not based Middle East Institute. carrier strike groups to the tration of a postwar Gaza. launched from Houthi-con-
the world’s, for this conflict He said Hezbollah and the eastern Mediterranean to But, his agenda has been trolled Yemen got within a
to spread beyond Gaza,” overall network of Iranian- serve as a deterrent. clouded by recent devel- “couple of miles” of U.S. Navy
Miller said. The key elements allied groups are pleased Two and a half months later, opments, including a drone and commercial vessels in
to preventing this will be de- with what the current level though, the chances of a re- strike attributed to Israel that the Red Sea before deto-
terring attacks by Yemen’s of hostilities has achieved. gional war have increased killed Hamas deputy leader nating, just hours after the
Iran-backed Houthi rebels “Iran is sitting pretty,” he said. with Israel determined to Saleh Arouri in Beirut’s south- White House and a host of
on commercial Red Sea “It doesn’t need to do any- strike Hamas operatives and ern suburbs, explosions in Iran partner nations issued a final
shipping, deterring attacks thing dramatic. It is kind of leaders no matter where that targeted a memorial warning to the Iran-backed
on Israel by Lebanon’s Iran- on the winning side.” they are. Meanwhile, Hamas, service for U.S.-assassinated militia group to cease the
backed Hezbollah and de- Since the Gaza war erupt- Hezbollah, the Houthis and Revolutionary Guard com- attacks or face potential
terring attacks on U.S. military ed with Israel’s response to pro-Iran militias have been mander Qassem Suleimani, military action.
facilities and interests by Iran- the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas stepping up attacks on U.S., a drone attack on a pro- And, in Baghdad on Thurs-
backed militias in Iraq and attacks, the Biden admin- Israeli and international inter- Iranian Iraqi militia group in day, a U.S. airstrike on the
Syria. istration has been seriously ests. Baghdad and U.S. and allied headquarters of an Iran-
Yet, U.S. influence with Iran concerned about a poten- As with his previous Mideast responses to Houthi attacks backed militia killed a high-
is minimal and it must rely tial spread in the conflict. visits, Blinken will be con- on commercial shipping in ranking commander, identi-
either on its own military It had breathed a sigh of centrating on expanding the Red Sea. fied as Abu Taqwa, with the
deterrence or on partners relief in the weeks following humanitarian aid to Gaza, For example, the first speech Popular Mobilization Force,
to make the case with Iran the start of the the Israeli op- pressing Israel to minimize by Hezbollah leader Has- or PMF. A U.S. defense official
that a regional war would be eration, when it successfully civilian Palestinian casual- san Nasrallah during the said Taqwa was targeted
catastrophic. counseled Israeli officials not ties, pushing for the release Israel-Hamas war, nearly a because he was actively
“Strategically, Iran is win- to mount pre-emptive strikes of hostages held by Hamas month into the conflict, was involved in attacks on U.S.
ning,” said Paul Salem, against Hezbollah in Leba- and stressing the importance widely seen by analysts as personnel.q

King’s daughter says wars, gun violence,

racism have pushed humanity to the brink

threats from artificial intelli- Black, brown and indig- ments, she warned. But she
gence, the Rev. Martin Lu- enous people throughout also offered a solution.
ther King Jr.'s daughter said the world," she said. The study and practice of
Thursday the world urgently She also mentioned con- her father's philosophy of
needs to study and adopt flicts in Yemen, Congo and nonviolence could teach
her father's philosophy of Ethiopia and cited rac- people how to live togeth-
nonviolence to avoid self- ism against Black people er peacefully, she said.
destruction. as another threat to hu- The events the King Cen-
The Rev. Bernice King used mans, saying it remained a ter has planned this year
Bernice King daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., speaks during an address to announce "blight" more than 50 years for the week leading up
a news conference at the Martin Luther King Jr speaks during a events for the upcoming after her father was assas- to the MLK holiday, includ-
news conference at the King Center Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in
Atlanta. holiday in honor of her fa- sinated. ing a teach-in and train-
Associated Press ther to warn that humanity Overall, humanity was dan- ing seminars, are therefore
was at a critical juncture. gerously close to fulfilling centered on the theme
By SUDHIN THANAWALA violence in the U.S., the "We are witnessing unprec- her father's prophecy that it of shifting "the cultural cli-
Associated Press deaths of families in Ukraine edented loss of human life could destroy itself through mate" through "Kingian
ATLANTA (AP) — Citing gun and Gaza from war, and and especially among the the misuse of its own instru- nonviolence."q