Middle East & North Africa

AMMAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Special Envoy David Satterfield said on Saturday that U.S. officials had not been told that Hamas is blocking or diverting humanitarian aid flowing into the Gaza Strip amid shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Speaking to reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman, he said that those distributing aid in Gaza had not reported aid being diverted since trucks resumed crossing the Egypt-controlled Rafah gate on Oct. 21 after diplomatic wrangling to resume the flow.

ANKARA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would try to facilitate the parliamentary ratification of Sweden's NATO membership as much as possible, but added that Stockhom had still not taken sufficient action on Kurdish militants.

Erdogan submitted a bill approving Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification last month, a move welcomed by the alliance and Stockholm. Turkey had initially raised objections due to what it said was Sweden's harbouring of groups it deems terrorist.

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hamas has prepared for a long, drawn-out war in the Gaza Strip and believes it can hold up Israel's advance long enough to force its arch enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the organization's leadership said.

JERUSALEM, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet in Tel Aviv as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It was Blinken's fourth visit to Israel since the fighting erupted on Oct. 7. He was shown an Israeli army video that purportedly documented part of the killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas on the first day of the conflict, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has called on the African continent to build a new social contract to ensure sustainable development.

A new social contract that will boost fair and equal opportunities for citizens is a must to accelerate sustainable development in Africa, a UNECA statement issued late Thursday quoted Claver Gatete, the new executive secretary of the UNECA, as saying.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stepped up his frantic diplomacy on Saturday, trying to build support for planning a post-conflict future for Gaza as he continued his second urgent mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Friday deported thousands of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip back to the besieged territory, Palestinian authorities said, capping what many described as harrowing weeks trapped in legal limbo since their detention when the Israel-Hamas war erupted.

RAMLA, Israel (AP) — Hours after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, the country’s new fortified, subterranean blood bank kicked into action. Staffers moved equipment into the underground bunker and started saving lives.

The Marcus National Blood Services Center in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, had been scheduled to open within days, but with more than 1,400 people in Israel killed since the Hamas raids — most killed during the initial attack — the timeline changed.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab foreign ministers Saturday to find ways to ease Gaza’s growing humanitarian crisis. His mission is complicated by Israel’s insistence there can be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released.

DAMASCUS, Nov 3 (NNN-SANA) – An explosion rocked a U.S. military base in Syria’s north-eastern province of Hasakah last night, a pro-government radio station reported.

The blast was heard at a U.S. military base, located in the Shaddadi area, in what appeared to be a drone attack, according to the Sham FM radio.

No more details were provided, but the base and other U.S. military bases in eastern Syria have been subject to drone attacks recently, against the backdrop of the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.