TEL AVIV, February 6 Argentine President Javier Miley Arriving at Tel Aviv airport, where he was met on Tuesday by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, he announced that Argentina would move its embassy to Jerusalem, the press service of the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported.
«Foreign Minister Katz thanked President Miley for his support for the State of Israel and for his visit to strengthen support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel following the Hamas attack. Minister Katz thanked the President for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and added that now, upon his arrival, «to the State of Israel, the time has come to announce the transfer of the Argentine Embassy to Jerusalem. In response, President Miley announced his decision to move the Argentine Embassy to Jerusalem,» the statement said.
Miley previously said that the purpose of his trip to Israel, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, is to express Argentina's solidarity with Israel in the fight against the Palestinian Hamas movement and the desire to «deepen trade ties.»
In addition, as part of his visit, the Argentine President is scheduled to visit the Western Wall. This is the “spiritual part” of his trip, he said.
The Argentine leader is accompanied on the trip by his sister Karina, who serves as head of the secretariat, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, as well as Rabbi Axel Vanisch, Argentina's ambassador to Israel and a close adviser to the president.
According to the Clarin newspaper, towards the end of the official visit, Miley intends to meet with relatives of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest data from the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, and it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was stopped. At the end of October, the ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was effectively divided into southern and northern parts.
The number of victims of Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 27 thousand, more than 66 thousand people were injured.
Hamas claimed that there were about 200-250 hostages in the Gaza Strip. After the end of the truce, Israeli authorities announced that 126 Israelis and 11 foreigners remained hostage from Hamas, and 110 abducted were released.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, related to the territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created.