More than ever, this week it looks like the Middle East jigsaw is in pieces.
Israeli war Cabinet member Benny Gantz is in Washington to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and other members of the Biden administration, while facing criticism at home from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters.
Talks continue in Cairo without an agreement and with no Israelis present, according to media reports.
The Israelis are demanding that Hamas provide details of which hostages are alive, before they agree to a prisoner exchange — an issue that has been festering for weeks, if not months. It does not suggest a huge amount of progress.
Elsewhere, Yemen Houthi rebels continue to target ships in the Red Sea, something they have vowed to do until there is peace in Gaza.
“The Houthis and their backer in Iran have manipulated the cause of Palestinians as an excuse to intensify instability in the region,” Amr al Bidh, member of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist movement that wants independence for South Yemen, told NBC News today.
Al Bidh, who has been in London meeting with members of the British government, added that ordinary civilians were suffering. “Food prices have quadrupled and less urgent humanitarian aid is reaching the people most in need,” he said.
He said he told British lawmakers that the Houthis “must be held accountable.”
“This includes ensuring their actions of terror in the Red Sea are not legitimized from wider developments in the region. The international community cannot take the word of the Houthis as a guarantee,” he said.
This is a complicated puzzle. The pieces are spread out and it will be hard to fit them together.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
