Blinken meets Palestinian president in West Bank

Palestinians in Rafah line up for free food. Pic/AP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to seek governance reforms as part of US efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.

Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after the war, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalisation is still possible, but only if there is "a pathway to a Palestinian state".

The approach faces serious obstacles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the autocratic, Western-backed Palestinian leadership, whose forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007, lacks legitimacy in the view of many Palestinians.

The is still no end in sight to the war, fuelling a humanitarian catastrophe in the tiny enclave. The fighting has also stoked escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants that has raised fears of a wider conflict.

Houthis launch massive Red Sea attacks

Yemen's Houthi rebels fired one of their largest barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the US and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major naval engagement, authorities said Wednesday. No damage was immediately reported. A total of 18 drones, two cruise missiles and the anti-ship missile were downed by US F-18s, and US and british navy ships.

US defends its veto of call for ceasefire

The US defended its veto of a call for the immediate suspension of hostilities in Gaza at a UN meeting Tuesday and again faced demands by the Palestinians and many other countries for a cease-fire. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the Russian-proposed amendment to a December 22 Security Council resolution which it vetoed "disconnected from the situation on the ground." The council then adopted a watered-down resolution, with the US abstaining, calling for steps to allow expanded humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Former UK Oppn leader to join delegation at ICJ

Former UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will join a South African delegation for this week's hearings at the International Court of Justice, where the country accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza. In the case, Israel has been accused of intending "to destroy Palestinians in Gaza".

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