US President Joe Biden was scheduled to meet mid-day Thursday with the Israeli prime minister.
However, the talks were postponed due to the emergency. To date, 12 US Marines are among at least dozens of dead victims.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, currently in Washington for talks with the American president and senior government officials, is planning to present an alternative to re-entering the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Another priority regards strengthening the Israeli military superiority against regional threats.
Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the new Delta strain, is another issue on the agenda.
The Israeli Prime Minister already met Wednesday separately with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, stating ahead of the meeting with the latter: “We’re going to be talking about a bunch of issues, primarily how do we fend off and curtail Iran’s pursuit to dominate the region and its race to a nuclear weapon…”
“We will also talk about regional stability and climate change, which is an issue for all of us.”
The meeting with Biden, however, originally scheduled for mid-day Thursday, was postponed to two suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State terrorists near the Kabul airport. To date, at least 10 US Marines are among dozens of dead victims and many wounded.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. At least 13 people were killed and 15 wounded, reports indicate.
A source told Fox News that there are hundreds of Islamic States fighters in the vicinity and warned that attacks are “likely to continue.”
Overnight, warnings emerged from Western capitals about a threat from IS, which has seen its ranks boosted by the Taliban’s freeing of prisoners during its advance through Afghanistan.
Shortly before the attack, the acting U.S. ambassador to Kabul, Ross Wilson, said the security threat at the Kabul airport overnight was “clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling.” But in an interview with ABC News, he would not give details.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy warned citizens at three airport gates to leave immediately due to an unspecified security threat. Australia, Britain and New Zealand also advised their citizens Thursday not to go to the airport.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any attack was imminent at the airport, where the group’s fighters have deployed and occasionally used heavy-handed tactics to control the crowds.
After the attack, he appeared to shirk blame, noting the airport is controlled by US. troops.
(United for Israel).