TRANSCRIPT
Outgoing U-S President Joe Biden welcomes his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog to the American capital, in one of his final meetings with leaders from foreign nations.
The two men discussed the situation in the Middle East, including the ongoing war in Gaza and the rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli president has targeted Iran as the root of all the conflict.
"And it all starts in Tehran. It all starts in the empire of evil, where in Tehran, with its proxies, they are doing whatever they can to derail stability and security and peace, calling for their annihilation of the state of Israel and seeking nuclear weapons. And, Mr. President, this has to be a major objective all throughout your term and the next term of the next president. Because we have to make sure that they cannot fulfill their evil intentions. They're also a major engine of antisemitism, Mr. President. And I know how much you put a focus on fighting and combating antisemitism."
In his comments after the meeting, Mr Herzog has described the discussions with the U-S president as open and frank.
He says they're both focused on bringing an end to the conflict and protecting the lives of all those in the Middle East.
"The most important thing out of this discussion is, of course, the commitment of President Biden and the administration to work until January 20th, until the last minute, to achieve goals are so important to peace and stability and predominantly security and security of the state of Israel in the Middle East. First and foremost, there are various that we know. One is Lebanon, one is Gaza. Of course, Iran. And the entire effort of how to change the trajectory of the Middle East towards a better future."
The meeting between the two leaders comes after a United Nations agency accused Israel of missing a deadline set by the U-S to increase its aid towards Gaza.
The U-N for agency Palestinian Relief - also known as UNRWA - says U-S Secretary of State Antony Blinken had given Israeli officials an ultimatum of 30 days to raise the number of trucks that are allowed access into Gaza per day.
That deadline is said to have expired on Tuesday.
Vedant Patel from the U-S State Department says there have been no violations.
"We at this time have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law, but most importantly we are going to continue to watch how these steps that have been taken, how these are being implemented. How that they can be continued to be expanded on. And through that we will continue to assess their compliance with U.S. law."
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer says his country has carefully taken into consideration the letter sent by Mr Blinken.
He says they are attempting to implement the orders given to them by the U-S.
"Let me just say this, that the government of Israel takes extremely seriously the letter sent just shy of a month ago to the Israeli government from Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken (U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken). We take extremely seriously the contents of that letter. We have studied it intensely. We have acted upon it with the best will that we can to get as much aid, which is why we say every single day there is no limit to the amount of aid that can get into Gaza. So, we are doing our utmost."
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has announced more appointments.
Among the new names revealed overnight is the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who has been appointed as the U-S Ambassador to Israel.
Mr Huckabee, who is known for his evangelical views, is an ordained Southern Baptist Pastor, a former talk show host and a musician.
He's also the father of current Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House Press Secretary during the previous Trump administration.
The Israeli ambassador to the U-N Danny Danon has welcomed the appointment.
"I want to congratulate my dear friend, Governor Mike Huckabee. I think he will be a great ambassador to Israel. He's very familiar with the facts on the ground. I think he visited Israel dozens of times. You know, he had like a yearly visit to Israel and I had the honour to escort him. Also, after October 7th, he came and I took him to visit the sites where the massacre took place. So, we will welcome him and we will be expecting his arrival."
It comes as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah remain high.
Israel's new defence minister Israel Katz has dismissed the possibility of an agreement until his nation can achieve its goals.
At least twelve people were killed in an air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, with the Israeli forces claiming they struck many of Hezbollah's facilities in the area.
A relative of one of the victims says those who were killed in the attack were not part of any military organisation.
"This is our house, it belongs to my uncle. It's been our house for 10 years, we didn't just move in. Everyone in the house is a civilian, no one's armed and no one belongs to any group. There were 10 people. Six were killed, and four are still missing."
A separate drone attack by Hezbollah targeting the northern areas of Israel left at least two people dead.
Israeli medical services say the attack struck a building in the town of Nahariya which then caught on fire.
This local resident describes the incident.
“There was a massive explosion here, I live here about 400 metres away, and I was just here in the area, and I heard an explosion - I've never heard anything like it before. Unfortunately, like you see, there seems to be two people killed here. It was about 15 seconds, even less, 10 seconds after I heard the massive explosion, it’s not something to mess around with. If one is not in a shelter, they're only saved by luck. The heart aches for those killed, hoping there are no more than two, but one must take care, this is not a joke.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made an address to the people of Iran, warning them that another attack by their leaders against his country could leave them in a poor financial position.
Mr Netanyahu says the war continues due to the Iranian regime's actions.
"Another attack on Israel would simply cripple Iran's economy. It would rob you of many more billions of dollars. I know that you don’t want this war. I don’t want this war either. The people of Israel don’t want this war. There is one force putting your family in grave danger: the tyrants of Tehran. That’s it."
