Israel bombs Gaza as rift with top ally widens

GAZA STRIP/WASHINGTON — Israel bombarded southern Gaza on Friday after it publicly sparred with its main ally the United States over the possibility of a Palestinian state, the creation of which Washington sees as the only pathway to lasting peace.

Witnesses reported gunfire and airstrikes early on Friday in Khan Younis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel says many members and leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are hiding.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported "intense" artillery fire near the al-Amal hospital, while Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 77 people were killed and dozens injured overnight.

The United Nations said the conflict, which began on Oct 7, has displaced roughly 85 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million people.

Many are crowded into shelters where they struggle to get food, water, fuel and medical care. UN agencies said improved aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

Washington supports Israel's campaign in Gaza, but despite otherwise close ties, the two allies publicly aired differences again this week over the way forward.

The US stressed again on Thursday that the creation of a Palestinian state is the only way to guarantee Israel's long-term security.

It came as questions swirl over the fate of the Gaza Strip when the Israel-Palestine conflict is over.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country "must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan (River)".

"This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty," Netanyahu said in public remarks.

When asked about Netanyahu's comments, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington and Israel "obviously see it differently".

One day earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a "pathway to a Palestinian state".

But Netanyahu maintained on Thursday that "a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends — to say no when necessary, and to say yes if possible".

During a trip to the Middle East last week, Blinken emphasized to Israeli authorities that Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, were committed to help reconstruct Gaza and aid with future Palestinian governance, but only on the condition that Israel clear the path for Palestinian statehood.

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Israel will face very difficult questions in the months to come.

"There is a historic opportunity that Israel has to deal with, challenges that it has faced since its founding, and we hope the country will take that opportunity," he said.

Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, who have a notoriously complicated relationship, have not participated in direct communication exchanges in several weeks.

Red Sea tension

Meanwhile, Yemen's Houthi militia claimed another attack on a US ship early on Friday in the Gulf of Aden, after the US launched fresh strikes on Houthi targets.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthi) carried out an attack targeting a US ship (Chem Ranger) in the Gulf of Aden with several appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement broadcast by the group's al-Masirah TV.

In a statement on Thursday, the US Central Command said US Navy forces stationing in the Red Sea conducted defensive strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea.

Also on Thursday, Biden said his administration returned the Houthi armed group to the "terrorist" list, and the decision will take effect next month if the Houthis do not stop threatening shipping lines.

Agencies - Xinhua