Untitled episode

Secretary of State Anthony blinkin is in the Middle East today as tensions rise far beyond Israel more players now inserting themselves in the fight making the threat of an expanding War even greater blinkin arrived in Istanbul marking his fourth trip now to the Middle East since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel and his visit comes amid a week of heightened violence in the region first Israeli

drone strike that killed a top Hamas official in Beirut Lebanon then also this week the US military confirming it carried out its own air strike in Baghdad killing an iran-backed militia leader responsible for recent attacks on us personnel and then adding to the Bloodshed the Islamic State claiming responsibility for two deadly bombings near the burial site of slain military commander kasum solomani in Iran now not

to mention there's the ongoing clashes between US forces and hou the rebels out there in the Red Sea senior Pentagon reporter Louis Martinez and our foreign correspondent Marcus Moore who's in Tel Aviv join me now to talk a little more about this so Louie you know is secretary blinkin going to make a difference here it's his fourth visit since the attack on October 7th the conflict

is clearly spreading is his diplomacy um just ineffective here Cara I think the effort here is to maintain the Diplomatic lead uh because the United States wants to ensure that the protection of Palestinian civilians as Israel continues with its major offensive inside of Gaza the United States wants to ensure the flow of humanitarian Aid uh to the residents of Gaza the United States wants to ensure

the return of Israeli hostages uh from Hamas and so the United States wants to maintain the lead of diplomatic engagement um and that's why this is his fourth trip to the region um his previous engagements have been it's been mixed bag essentially because the United States has been pushing for uh these humanitarian poses they don't want to go forward with the broader term of a ceasefire

because U that's they say it plays into the hands of Hamas um but that playing into that also means that the United States is losing support International and as Israel plays with this continued tough hand inside of Israel so I think the United States needs to was as we're seeing here with blink's trip they're maintaining that diplomatic effort at the same time trying to maintain support

for what they see as Israel's right of self-defense so Marcus blinkin is asking for more humanitarian Aid uh he's always been pushing for more Aid to get into Gaza has he been able to get any more in well uh today there was some some success uh if you will in terms of getting Aid in there were more than 188 trucks that made it into Gaza today

if you recall in the immediate aftermath of of the October 7th attacks uh there was no Aid whatsoever going in and then that number gradually increased to about 100 a trucks going in but it's important to keep in mind that before the October 7th attacks about 500 a trucks were going in and out of Gaza every single day so even at the more than 100 80

that made it in there is still the need and by all accounts we have heard of a humanitarian crisis that has continued to unfold there with families uh adults parents going without food so that their children uh can eat so A desperate situation unfolding in the midst of this very critical military operation uh that has now reached 90 days uh about in uh in the region

there with as you mentioned the concern that the conflict we watch unfold in could then spill over into a much wider conflict in Northern Israel and in other parts of the region well Louie the US is calling yesterday's air strike in Iraq a retaliatory strike for recent attacks on US military bases was this the right time you think to carry out this attack car one thing

you always hear from the Pentagon is that the United States will carry out self defense strikes at a time and place of their choosing so this was the time in place yesterday um the location was deep inside of Baghdad which is is a very rare location for the United States to carry out a strike and particularly such a senior leader of one of these two militias

that the United States says are backed by Iran and that are launching uh iranian-made missiles and drones at American military bases to the tune of 120 attacks since mid October that's resulted in 74 injuries among American forces all of them have gone back to duty except for one so the United States is trying to send this message this is the sixth retaliatory strike uh against uh

these Iranian back militias inside of Iraq and Syria the United States trying to get the message to these groups to stop doing these attacks and so but in this case this was a very precise drone strike targeting a leader of one of these two militias it sends a very strong message all right Louis Marcus appreciate it thank you and for more Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina

Singh joins me now Sabrina glad you could join us you know the Pentagon called yesterday's air strike in Baghdad necessary and proportionate but it's being seen seen as an escalation now because of the Rarity of carrying out an air strike like this in Baghdad so couldn't this backfire and give iran-backed groups more incentive to attack our forces now well thanks again for having me on today

uh look we've always said this uh from from the very beginning and and it doesn't just uh pertain to what's happening in the Middle East but all around the world we always reserve the right to protect our forces to protect our people wherever they are stationed and yesterday what you saw the US military do is take precise action against a known terrorist leader that has been

one of the orchestrators of attacks against our our forces in Iraq and Syria who by the way are there to complete and to continue the defeat Isis Mission and so uh the attacks on our forces in in Iraq and Syria distract from that mission distract from our Partnerships with those governments uh with their military forces to defeat Isis and and so that's why you saw the

US milit take the action that we did yesterday um and and Target one specific individual with a known terrorist connection a known terrorist Network that has been conducting these attacks on our forces understood but I'm looking at this interview here where iraqi's prime minister actually announced it's now forming this committee to prepare to close down the us-led international coalition's mission in that country in Iraq following

this us strike against a militia leader blamed for these attacks against US troops so what if this does lead to Iraq's government you know pushing our troops out is this what the US is actually hoping for well again I'm not going to speculate on on what could happen in the future what I can tell you now is that our forces are there at the invitation of

the Iraqi government we continue to have a good relationship with the government of Iraq uh we're there in partnership with them in the move in our mission to defeat Isis that is the mission of not only US forces but that is something that Iraq wants to see as well so I'm not going to speculate on on what might happen in the future I can just tell

you what what I can tell you right now is that what our mission is and um that we are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government well if that invitation is Rec sendage which it sounds like that may happen uh it coincides with what general Kenneth McKenzie is saying now too who commanded centcom as you know he wrote this oped today for the Wall Street

Journal and he said that if avoiding escalation here is the highest priority then it's only logical to W withdraw US forces from the region so that would fall in line with if Iraq booted troops out but he also says that that would ultimately endanger the future of the Middle East sending a a dangerous signal to our adversaries as well as our friends and allies so what's

it going to be and are you concerned that the prime minister of Iraq will resend that invitation to have troops there and then it could turn into a bigger mess than what we're seeing now well of course we don't want to see any uh any type of regional conflict what you have with our forces in Iraq and Syria is exactly what you stated their mission their

goal is to ensure the enduring defeat of Isis and we're coming up on the 10-year anniversary of you know just a few years ago when Isis was kilometers away from taking control of Baghdad uh Isis just the other day claimed responsibility for an attacking Iran so this is exactly what we don't want to see we don't want to see a Resurgence of Isis in the region

and frankly neither do some of the governments that we partner with or their militaries want to see a Resurgence of Isis we know the damage that they're capable of doing that's why we are there in Iraq and Syria to work with their militaries to work with their government to ensure that Isis cannot come back to the capacity that it was once at again I'm not going

to speculate on um on on what the future might hold what I can tell you is that we have a good relationship with the government of Rock i' I've seen the statements again we are we are in a rock at the at the invitation of the government and I'm just going to leave it at that Deputy P Pentagon press secretary Savina Singh appreciate it thank you

hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching