A drone strike in eastern Baghdad targeted the leadership of the Iranian-backed militia Kata’ib Hezbollah and reportedly killed Abo Baqir Al-Saadi, described by U.S. Central Command as being directly responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in the region.
White House officials to visit Michigan to meet with Muslim and Arab American community leaders
Senior Biden administration aides will travel to Michigan tomorrow to hear directly from Muslim and Arab American community leaders on their top issues and concerns, including, most notably, the Israel-Hamas war and civilian casualties in Gaza.
The White House teased the upcoming visit to Michigan when President Joe Biden traveled to Detroit last week for a labor-focused event with the United Auto Workers union.
The meeting with Muslim and Arab American community leaders in Detroit is a White House-driven event. Biden campaign officials are not planning to participate at this time.
Stabbing of Palestinian American man in Texas was motivated by bias, police say
A Palestinian American man was stabbed in the back in Austin, Texas, after he attended a protest in support of Gaza in what police are calling a “bias-motivated incident.”
Zacharia Doar, 23, was sitting in the passenger seat of his friend’s car Sunday when a man opened his door and dragged him to the ground, his father, Nizar Doar, said today.
In the scuffle, the victim saw the man charging his friend with a knife. When he went to protect his friend, he was stabbed in the upper left side of his back, a few inches from his heart, his father said, adding that the knife broke his son’s rib.
“He is really, really in a lot of agony and a lot of pain at this moment,” the elder Doar said. “It’s sad to be here. Seeing my son suffering is sad to see.”
The attack happened around 7 p.m., police said, hours after the protest had ended and after the victim had gotten food with his friends.
Nizar Doar said he believes his son was targeted because the car had a distinctly patterned Palestinian kaffiyeh, or scarf, tied to a door handle.
Blinken says Israel has ‘obligation’ to put civilians first as military expands into Rafah
The daily toll on Palestinians in Gaza as a result of Israel’s military campaign in the strip remains “too high” as the war continues into its fifth month, Blinken told reporters today after his meeting with Israeli government officials.
Blinken spoke as fighting bleeds into the southern city of Rafah, which has become highly populated since the war began. He said at his briefing that Israel has both the obligation and the responsibility “to do everything possible to ensure that civilians are protected.”
“And that’s especially true in the case of Rafah, where there are somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Gaza,” Blinken said.
Blinken says Hamas’ counterproposal has ‘absolute nonstarters’
Hamas’ response to a potential hostage deal had what Secretary of State Antony Blinken described as “absolute nonstarters,” but he still expressed some optimism about forward movement.
“But at the same time, we see in what was sent back space to continue to pursue an agreement,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv. “And these things are always negotiations — it’s not flipping a light switch. It’s not yes or no. There’s invariably back and forth.”
Blinken did not describe what the “nonstarters” were, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to reject the idea of a total cease-fire that Hamas has repeatedly demanded. He also said that he has not committed to exchanging the high number of Palestinians in Israeli detention for the 136 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
An Arab source told NBC News earlier today that Hamas asked for the release of 1,500 prisoners, including 500 people serving life sentences. The counter also proposed a plan to rebuild Gaza, an influx of aid and freedom of movement within the Palestinian enclave.
Militant commander killed in U.S. drone strike in Baghdad
A Kata’ib Hezbollah commander was killed in a U.S. drone strike today in Baghdad as part of the response to an attack on American forces in the region two weeks ago, a U.S. official confirmed to NBC News.
The U.S. first launched retaliatory strikes in both Iraq and Syria last week following an attack on a base in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers.
Kata’ib Hezbollah announced the death of Abo Baqir Al-Saadi on its Telegram channel today following Iraqi news report that a drone strike had hit a car in eastern Baghdad.
U.S. Central Command posted a statement on X announcing the strike, describing the man…
Read More: Hamas responds to cease-fire proposal; U.S. kills militant in Baghdad drone