US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel on Tuesday for what is his 11th visit to the region since the start of the Gaza war. He’s expected to later travel to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – as part of efforts to defuse soaring regional tensions. This is likely to be his last big Middle East diplomatic tour as Secretary of State.

His meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – which included a small group of participants – reportedly lasted more than two hours. The bilateral meeting involving other US officials is expected to continue on a broader level throughout the day. Israeli media described that Blinken is trying to “temper” the expected retaliation strikes on Iran.

The talks are also said to be focused on restarting long-stalled talks with Hamas, in an effort to achieve a potential ceasefire and hostage exchange, in the wake of the killing of Yahya Sinwar last week.

GPO/TOI

While Washington tended to see Sinwar as a major obstacle to peace, the deaths of he and Haniyeh have left an immediate power vacuum, and it’s unclear who would lead negotiations from Hamas’ side at this point.

Israel on Tuesday is belatedly confirming that a drone sent from Hezbollah did in fact directly strike Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea. Initially the military had only said it struck a building near Netanyahu’s house, in the same community, and details have been kept under wraps for two days pending an investigation.

But Netanyahu did say on Saturday that “Iran’s proxies, who today attempted to assassinate me and my wife, made a grave mistake. This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing the war of resurgence against our enemies to secure our safety for generations to come.”

This has likely been discussed with the US delegation, as well as Israel’s preparations for the likely retaliation strike on Iran for the Oct.1st ballistic missile attack.

Iran is meanwhile busy urging the international community to speak out against such a strike, which could escalate into full-blown war.

Confirmed: the Hezbollah drone not only struck Netanyahu’s residence, but it slammed into his bedroom window, at a time he and his wife were not home.

“All the neighbors assured us that they will not allow their lands and air to be used against Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in fresh comments carried by state-run IRNA news agency. “This is an expectation from all friendly and neighboring countries and we consider this a sign of friendship.”

Al Jazeera and other Arab media sources are alleging that Israel’s military is conducing a mass forced displacement in northern Gaza over the last days:

Since the early hours of this morning, we’ve been getting confirmed reports of the horror unfolding in the north of the Strip, including the mass enforced displacement of an entire population that has been suffering for the past 18 days – no food, no water supplies and no survival items to support their existence.

This is in addition to the deliberate prevention and obstruction of entry of humanitarian aid in the northern part of the Strip. We are seeing scenes of people carrying white flags and going through checkpoints. It’s heartbreaking because people are being forced out of their homes under heavy bombardment.

What’s scary about these checkpoints is they are equipped with high-tech surveillance cameras and metal detectors. According to people who went through them, many women and children were arrested at these checkpoints.

Heavy fighting between the IDF and Hamas militants is currently centered in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is also heavily involved in the fight, which has been raging for at least the past three days. 

⚡️Hamas publishes footage of them destroying a Zionist Merkava tank in Jabalia pic.twitter.com/IdFaL0KdRI

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) October 22, 2024

The Palestinian militant groups are claiming to have inflicted several new casualties on the Israelis, through a series of explosive detonations and IEDs.