Saudi foreign minister discusses regional de-escalation with US counterpart

By Ibrahim Khazen

RIYADH (AA) - Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke by phone Thursday with his US counterpart Antony Blinken and discussed rapidly-evolving regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and Sudan, according to a statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been embroiled in a conflict that has killed around 15,000 people and displaced roughly 8.5 million others, according to UN estimates.

Saudi Arabia and the US have been working through mediation efforts to end the conflict and establish a lasting cessation of hostilities.

The two men also discussed the importance of reducing tensions and achieving a lasting cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, the statement said, without providing further details.

Tensions in the region have escalated, with Israel, a US ally, conducting operations on multiple fronts. Arab and Western nations have issued warnings about the potential for regional conflagration.

On Thursday, the Israeli military claimed “intelligence confirmation” of the assassination of Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in an airstrike carried out on July 13 in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The announcement followed Hamas’s claim on Wednesday that Israel had assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the head of its political bureau, in an Israeli airstrike on his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran following his participation in the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

While Israel has not officially commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alluded to Tel Aviv’s involvement in the attack.

Netanyahu also confirmed that the Israeli army was responsible for the assassination of senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike Tuesday on a southern suburb of Beirut amid a simmering conflict between the two sides since last October.

*Witting by Mohammad Sio