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Added on the 01/08/2013 18:47:58 - Copyright : France 24 EN
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says a "full-scale invasion" of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by Israeli forces "would be a mistake." SOUNDBITE
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem during a Middle-East tour to push for a ceasefire as the Gaza war enters its fifth month. IMAGES
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will leave Thursday on a trip to five Arab countries, the West Bank, Turkey and Greece, in addition to a previously announced stop in Israel, the State Department says. Blinken among other issues will "discuss immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
Israeli President Isaac Herzog meets with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Tel-Aviv. While the United States has strongly backed Israel's response to Hamas's attacks, it has pressed its ally to do more to minimise civilian casualties. IMAGES
The United States criticizes the Arab League decision to readmit Syria, after a more than decade-long suspension. The body suspended Damascus in November 2011 over its crackdown on peaceful protests, which had begun earlier that year, and which spiraled into a war that has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry. "We will not normalize our relations with the Assad regime, and we don’t support our allies and partners doing so either," US State Department Spokesman Vedant Patel tells reporters during a press briefing. SOUNDBITE
The introduction of a draft UN resolution criticizing Israel following announcements that it will advance settlements and retroactively legalize nine outposts in the occupied West Bank is "unhelpful," US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel tells reporters. SOUNDBITE