For today, links to six reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Monitor, and the Anadolu Agency, to commentary from Middle East Eye,  and to an interview from ScheerPost via Consortium News; other news and commentary are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (VENEZELA entry for this date is HERE— MCM

–   –   –

Strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2 as fears of wider war spike, by Natalie Melzer and Samy Magdy | AP  TEL AVIV — Israeli strikes early today killed 18 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. READ MORE . . . Click HERE, HERE and HERE for reports from Reuters, and HERE for report from Middle East Monitor.

–   –   –

Blinken speaks with UK, French counterparts to ‘deescalate’ rising Mideast tensions, by Rabia İclal Turan | Anadolu Agency  WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his British and French counterparts Saturday via telephone about the need to deescalate rising tensions in the Middle East and prevent further escalation of the conflict. READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

How Netanyahu’s Washington visit paved the way for regional war, by Sami Al-Arian | Middle East Eye  As Israel ramps up its military provocations, it is now more apparent than ever that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bellicose address in Congress last week was the opening salvo of a wider regional war — to the rapturous applause of U.S. lawmakers. READ MORE . . .

–   –   –

A diary of genocide. Chris Hedges of ScheerPost talks with Atef Abu Saif, the Palestinian novelist who chronicled his experience surviving the most recent onslaught in Gaza. Born in the besieged territory, Saif has known war his whole life. Click HERE to listen, and for transcript.