 "US Secy of State Antony Blinken back in West Asia amid escalating tensions")
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Europe’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were due in West Asia on Friday to try to halt the spillover of the conflict in Gaza to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
The visits take place almost three months since the assault on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza sparked an Israeli offensive that Palestinian health officials say has killed 22,600 people and left much of the enclave in ruins. Israel, which says it has killed 8,000 militants since the deaths of 1,200 people in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, announced a more targeted approach on Thursday as Blinken set off on a week-long tour of the region.
But Palestinians said Israeli planes and tanks had intensified attacks overnight on densely populated Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij and Al-Nusseirat in the centre of the coastal strip.
Some 162 Gazans were killed in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health officials said.
Four others were killed in an air strike on a street in Al-Nusseirat, they said, while further south, where hundreds of thousands of Gazans have moved on Israeli advice, six were killed in a strike on Khan Younis.
Container shipping giant Maersk is diverting all vessels from Red Sea routes around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future, it said on Friday, warning customers to prepare for significant disruption. Shippers across the world are switching away from the Red Sea — and so the shortest route from Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal — after Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up attacks on vessels in the Gulf region to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.
The trip round Africa can add about 10 days to journey times and requires more fuel and crew-time, jacking up shipping costs.
Also Read
Denmark's Maersk had said earlier this week it would pause all vessels bound for the Red Sea following an attack on one of its ships by Houthi militants, and has since begun redirecting ships around Africa.
“The situation is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence at hand confirms that the security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level,” Maersk said in a statement on Friday.
As a result, the company will divert all Maersk vessels around the Cape of Good Hope “for the foreseeable future”. On Thursday, Maersk rerouted four out of five southbound container vessels that had already passed through the Suez Canal back north for the long journey around Africa.