Middle East Live Blog: ++ Nations push for two-state solution in Madrid ++

At the Madrid conference, Arab and European leaders again called for a two-state solution. The United States has withdrawn one of its two aircraft carriers from the Red Sea. Live blog developments.

At the Madrid meeting, Arab and European leaders again called for a two-state solution. “We want to identify concrete steps that can make progress toward this goal together,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told the online service X.

The two-state solution envisages an independent Palestinian state that coexists peacefully with Israel. The federal government also supports it. The meeting, held in the Spanish capital, was attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The EU was represented by foreign minister Josep Borrell. The foreign ministers of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain also took part in the talks. All four countries formally recognized the independent state of Palestine a few months ago.

According to one survey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party will make gains and will be the strongest force in the upcoming elections in parliament. According to a survey published in the Israeli daily Ma’ariw, this would give Likud 24 seats, compared to its current 32. This would be its highest polling result since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. At the start of the ensuing war, polls consistently showed Likud winning only 16 to 18 seats in parliament.

Turkey has launched its own investigation into the killing of a Turkish-American human rights activist during a protest in the West Bank. “We have started an investigation into those responsible for the murder and martyrdom of our sister Aysenur Ezgi Eigi,” Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. He also said he would seek an international arrest warrant for the perpetrator through Interpol. Turkey has a recording of the perpetrator.

Eygi is scheduled to be buried in Türkiye today. According to Palestinian sources, the Turkish-American woman was killed by Israeli soldiers a week ago during a protest against a settlement outpost. The 26-year-old was initially taken to hospital with life-threatening head injuries but later died, the Ramallah Health Ministry said. The Israeli military has acknowledged that the woman was shot unintentionally, according to current reports.

The United States blamed Iran-linked militias for the attack days after the US embassy site at Baghdad’s airport. The US embassy in Baghdad said Wednesday night that the attack was “launched by Iran-linked militias that operate freely in Iraq.” There were no injuries in the attack.

The embassy urged Iraqi authorities to protect U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq, while also citing the U.S.’s “right to self-defense” and “the right to protect our personnel anywhere in the world.”

UN special rapporteurs Irene Khan and Francesca Albanese have accused Israeli forces of attacking journalists in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said it launched an offensive against Palestinian militants in the northern West Bank in late August.

Last September, Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at journalists or their vehicles three times in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm “while reporting on military operations and civilian casualties,” UN experts said. Four journalists were injured despite wearing clearly marked press vests.

Since October 2023, the Israeli military has arrested a total of 29 journalists, and the Palestinian Authority has arrested three more. It also criticized the continued denial of access to the Gaza Strip for foreign journalists.

According to media reports, Israel attacked and destroyed a precision missile factory in Syria last weekend. The New York Times and axios.com news portal are reporting on this based on statements from anonymous people who are said to have been involved in the incident or have direct knowledge of it. The weapons factory was reportedly built by Iran, Syria’s main ally, to supply rockets to the pro-Iran Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Syrian state news agency Sana reported on Monday that 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in suspected Israeli airstrikes in the western Masjaf region.

The US has withdrawn the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt from the Red Sea after weeks of deployment to respond to the Middle East crisis. The ship and its associated group are transiting the Indo-Pacific, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its companion ships are still in the Middle East.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the military in late August to keep the carrier and its accompanying ships in the area as a priority. Ryder did not give specifics on the withdrawal, but spoke generally of “fleet management.” He stressed that the U.S. could be there with two carriers if needed.

According to the UN, the war has led to the collapse of the Gaza Strip’s economy. Six UNRWA staff were killed in an Israeli attack on a school building in the center, according to the UN. Read Thursday’s developments.