Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Senator Chuck Schumer in a closed-door speech to Senate Republicans on Wednesday, days after the Democratic majority leader branded him an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and called for new elections to replace him after the war. winds down.

Netanyahu’s virtual appearance before Republicans — and a refusal by Schumer to allow him to make a similar speech to Senate Democrats — dramatized the growing partisan divide on Capitol Hill and in American politics over the leadership of Netanyahu and Israel’s offensive in the US Gaza.

At the meeting, Mr. Netanyahu called Mr. Schumer’s speech in the Senate last week “completely inappropriate and outrageous,” according to Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, who was present. And many Republican senators said they agreed with him.

“He wasn’t happy,” Mr Hawley said of the prime minister. “He made that very clear.”

In an explosive speech last week, Mr. Schumer named Mr. Netanyahu alongside Hamas as one of the main obstacles to peace, trying to make the case that Americans can love and support Israel and yet be deeply critical of Mr. Netanyahu and its far-right government.

President Biden called it a “good speech” and some Democrats applauded Mr. Schumer for speaking out at a time when Israel’s offensive against Hamas has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza, including civilians. But conservative Jewish groups and Republicans were stunned and dismayed, accusing Schumer of crossing a dangerous line.

Former President Donald J. Trump went even further, saying in an interview that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and their religion. It was an extreme version of a tactic that many elected Republicans have long tried, portraying Democrats who question Mr. Netanyahu or his policies as denouncing Israel itself and even anti-Semitic.

His appearance at the Republican Party’s closed-door Confab on Wednesday was not the first time Mr. Netanyahu has waded into a bitter partisan fight over support for Israel, allying himself with Republicans eager to boost their support for Jewish wanted to show. In 2015, the prime minister accepted an invitation from Republicans in the House of Representatives to make his case against the Iran nuclear deal before Congress, without consulting the White House, which was then in the grip of negotiating the deal.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu told Republicans that his policies reflected the consensus of Israelis and that Mr. Schumer’s comments would not affect how he planned to proceed with his offensive.

“He made it very clear that he intends to continue the war against Hamas with the full extent of his power, and he said the American people are behind him,” said Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana. “He said even if we have to go alone, we won’t stop.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and minority leader, said he told Netanyahu he believed Schumer had crossed a line by “giving advice to a Democratic ally on when to hold elections or what kind of military campaign to feed. conduct.”

“It seems to me that bipartisan support for Israel is beginning to waver,” Mr. McConnell said, making clear he thought Democrats were responsible.

In his speech, Mr. Schumer accused Mr. Netanyahu of pursuing policies that undermine Israel’s own democratic values ​​and jeopardize the possibility of a two-state solution in the future. He has accused Republicans of politicizing support for Israel, which has historically been bipartisan, and accused Netanyahu of only targeting Republicans.

During the meeting, Mr. Netanyahu asked Republicans to continue their vocal support for Israel and help the country end the war, several attendees said.

“He emphasized several times that Israel is not asking for American ground troops, and is not asking for America to fight its war,” Mr. Hawley said. Mr. Netanyahu asked for financial help to “get the job done” and urged senators to support whatever bill the House sent them that includes billions of dollars in aid to Israel.

Mr. Hawley said Republicans directly asked Mr. Netanyahu for figures on civilian casualties in Gaza. “He was very aware of it, he talked about it at length,” Mr. Hawley said, noting that Mr. Netanyahu assured them that the Israelis were doing everything they could to minimize civilian casualties. He said he estimated the death toll at about 28,000, about 2,000 fewer than Gaza’s health ministry said.

Israeli officials had asked if Mr Netanyahu could also address Democrats at their weekly closed-door lunch, but Mr Schumer rejected the request, saying he did not think it was appropriate for a foreign leader to address US elected officials at once . party forum.

“Senator Schumer has made it clear that he does not believe these discussions should take place in a partisan manner,” a spokesperson said. “That is not helpful for Israel.”

Mr. Schumer defended his speech on Wednesday amid a barrage of accusations that he interfered in the democratic process of a close ally.

“I gave the speech out of true love for Israel,” he said. “If you read the speech, we only called for elections after hostilities have subsided, after Hamas has been defeated.”

Republicans made clear they planned to continue harassing him over his speech and blaming Democrats for the growing partisan divide over support for Israel.

“Schumer doesn’t have to like or dislike Benjamin Netanyahu on a personal level,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. “Schumer’s attack was against the people of Israel, because it was the people of Israel who voted. Chuck Schumer had the arrogance and audacity to try to instruct another nation as if it were a puppet state, a banana republic.”

Robert Jimison reporting contributed.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned China on Tuesday that an “armed” attack on Philippine ships in the South China Sea would trigger a mutual self-defense pact between Washington and Manila, reflecting rising tensions in the region that threaten to drag United States into armed conflict with Beijing.

But in a sign that the United States hopes to de-escalate the situation, Mr. Blinken gave no indication during a visit to Manila that recent Chinese provocations — including ramming Philippine ships and shelling them with water cannons — have crossed the threshold of the crisis has passed. “armed” attacks.

At a press conference alongside his Philippine counterpart, he was asked how to deter what some analysts call China’s “gray zone coercive tactics,” which Philippine officials say include aimed at a powerful laser At a Philippine Coast Guard ship and temporarily blinding some crew members, Mr. Blinken pointed to diplomatic, not military, measures.

“The visibility of these actions has, I believe, prompted clear statements from a number of other countries in support of the Philippines and against these provocative actions that threaten peace, security, freedom of navigation and fundamental rights under international law. ” he said.

Mr. Blinken appeared to be trying to strike a balance at a time when the Biden administration is trying to maintain a recent thaw in relations with Beijing while remaining firm against Chinese territorial aggression in the region.

He also signaled robust U.S. support for the Philippines at a time when recent relations between the countries have been on edge. Mr. Blinken met later in the day with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has shifted his country’s foreign policy back toward Washington since succeeding Rodrigo Duterte, who openly derided the United States and embraced Beijing.

President Biden hosted Mr. Marcos at the White House last spring, and Mr. Blinken is one of several top officials to have visited the Philippines since Mr. Marcos’ election in May 2022.

The White House announced Monday that Marcos would return to the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 11 for a joint summit – the first of the three nations. A statement from the White House press secretary praised “the historic momentum in US-Philippines relations.”

The US sees both economic and strategic benefits in the renewed friendship: the Philippines is one of seven countries to receive funding from the 2022 CHIPS Act, which was passed by Congress with the support of President Biden. The law authorizes new funding to boost U.S. semiconductor research and production and diversify the U.S. high-tech supply chain.

During his stopover in stuffy Manila, Mr. Blinken toured the local branch of an Arizona-based semiconductor company, calling the Philippines “an increasingly critical partner.”

But looming over such positive talk is the threat of conflict with China.

The US and the Philippines have been bound by a mutual self-defense treaty since 1951, which was signed a decade after Japan conquered the country but has now become a stumbling block against Chinese claims to the South China Sea. the United States has been rejected.

The Chinese media has noted Mr. Blinken’s visit here with disdain. The nationalist newspaper Global Times reported that “Washington’s use of Manila as a means to disrupt the situation in the South China Sea could take the regional strategic confrontation to an unprecedented level,” and accompanied his story with an unflattering photo of Mr. Blinken grimacing and furrowing his brow.

Global Times pointed the finger at Manila, accusing its forces of “illegally entering waters outside Chinese territory in the region and trying to mislead the international community on the issue.”

Mr Blinken plans to travel further from the Philippines to the Middle East, with stops in Cairo, Egypt and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He said he would continue efforts to reach a hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, which would lead to a temporary ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Mr Blinken also plans to focus on post-war plans, including how to provide governance and security for Gaza once fighting stops and “what is the right architecture for lasting regional peace” – a reference to US efforts to build a agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Arabia which would establish normal diplomatic relations between the countries for the first time.

Gathered in a Ukrainian farm, the soldiers checked their equipment: rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, spare batteries for radios, red and white flashlights, everything needed for a stealthy and daring night attack across the border into Russia.

The soldiers are Russians who have turned against the government of their country’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and are now fighting for the Ukrainian side by raiding Russia.

Their goal was to break through the first Russian defense line, hoping to open a path for another unit to drive deeper into Russia with tanks and armored personnel carriers.

“We will jump into their trench and hold it,” explained one of the soldiers, who declined to be identified for security reasons. “Either we take them out, or they take us out.”

According to both Ukrainian and Russian accounts, fierce fighting raged for five days along Russia’s southern border, marking the most sweeping ground attacks on Russia since the Russian army invaded Ukraine two years ago.

Three Russian exile groups, almost openly backed by Ukrainian military intelligence, say the attacks are timed to undermine the sense of stability underpinning Putin’s push for a fifth term, with three days of voting ending on Sunday.

Ukraine has recently become increasingly bold in organizing direct attacks within Russia, sabotaging railways in Siberia, attacking refineries and fuel depots with exploding drones and now supporting groups that drive tanks across the border. Fearing that Russia could escalate its military response, the United States and its Western allies have banned the Ukrainian military from using donated weapons in these attacks throughout the war.

Military analysts say the strikes will draw Russian air defenses away from the battlefield, put a dent in Russia’s sanctions-deficient oil economy, unnerve Russians and could create leverage in future negotiations, even as Ukraine faces setbacks along the front in the country.

The area around the border where the exile groups are attacking – a sparsely populated area of ​​fields, forests and small villages – had already fallen into a chaotic state after almost two years of Russian cross-border attacks with artillery and small sabotage units that had slipped into Ukraine.

The response, a politically driven escalation ahead of Russia’s elections, is notable for its scale and the number of soldiers involved, commanders of Russia’s exile groups said.

About half a dozen Russian border posts and villages have been attacked and the tanks are the first foreign military attacks in Russia since World War II, the Russian exiles say.

The ground fighting coincided with a wave of long-range attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian oil refineries and the Russian city of Belgorod. Two people were killed in drone strikes in the city on Saturday, the regional governor said.

Mr. Putin, speaking at a Security Council meeting on Friday, described “attacks on peaceful settlements on the territory of Russia” and said that 2,500 soldiers, whom he called mercenaries, led by the Ukrainian government, along with tanks and armored vehicles, carried out attacks on peaceful settlements on the territory of Russia. attacks along the border. The attacks on five locations were aimed at disrupting elections this weekend, but they were all repulsed, Putin said, adding: “The enemy will not go unpunished for these attacks.”

The three exile groups – Free Russia Legion, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion – have declined to reveal their numbers but confirmed the use of tanks in the fighting.

“Putin has commented twice about our special liberation operation, which means we are hitting the target,” said Aleksey Baranovsky, a spokesman for the Legion of Free Russia. The attacks, he added, were intended to show resistance to Mr. Putin during an otherwise staged election.

“Elections are a time when our voices are heard,” he said.

The attacks continue along a roughly 100-mile border between the Sumy and Kharkov regions of Ukraine and the Belgorod and Kursk regions of Russia, according to both Russian and Ukrainian sources.

Russian military bloggers have identified nine raid locations. Both sides described cross-border helicopter attacks from Ukraine. The preparation of the operation, witnessed by journalists from The New York Times, It involved approximately 50 soldiers, two tanks and four armored personnel carriers, including two American-designed M-113 armored personnel carriers. Many countries have donated M-113s to Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday that it had repelled all attacks and used rockets to hit the invading soldiers who landed by helicopter, forcing them into a minefield. The statement said Russian forces had destroyed 18 tanks and 23 other armored vehicles.

Further away from the border area, Ukrainian drones struck two oil refineries in the Samara region, on the Volga River in central Russia, on Saturday, causing a fire at one, regional officials and Russian media reported. Ukraine has hit a dozen refineries since the start of the year, and Russian media have reported rising gasoline prices in Russia.

Ukraine is recruiting from exiled Russian nationalists and disaffected ethnic minorities. The leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Denis Kapustin, openly embraces far-right views and uses White Rex as his military call sign. German officials and the Anti-Defamation League have identified Mr. Kapustin as a neo-Nazi.

In an interview on Wednesday at a base in a Ukrainian village, Mr. Kapustin said the attacks in Russia just before the election were bigger than the small-unit sabotage operations he had carried out.

The group, he said, was now attacking “en masse with tanks, armored vehicles and artillery” and had successfully destabilized the border area before the elections. Along with a cross-border attack last spring, he said, his group had managed to derail trains with minor operations.

His group’s attacks on Russia, he said, had shattered Putin’s assumption that Russia would be immune from retaliatory attacks after it invaded Ukraine.

“They were clearly shocked,” he said of Russia’s leadership. “They realized, OK, Pandora’s box is now open. Everything can happen.”

The Ukrainian military, he said, “helps us a lot” with intelligence, logistics and evacuation of the wounded, but, he added, it does not send Ukrainian citizens across the border to Russia. The ultimate goal of the operations, he said, is more than conducting “hit-and-run” attacks; it is intended to hold territory within Russia.

The cross-border raids, he said, had forced Russia to divert military resources that could have gone to the front in southeastern Ukraine. Yet Russian forces have an advantage in numbers, weapons and ammunition and have crept to the front in trench fighting in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian-backed groups have also suffered setbacks at the border. Russian fighter jets carried out bombings near the border with Ukraine, and Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of 22 towns and villages on Saturday.

After donning their gear and checking their weapons, the Russian Volunteer Corps unit that set up in a farmhouse in the early hours of Thursday was ready to launch their attack into Russia – but the tanks and armored vehicles for the second waves of their attack were nowhere to be seen.

The soldiers sat on the ground and one fell asleep on top of boxes of tank ammunition. The column of armored vehicles had gotten lost on back roads near the border.

“Send me your coordinates,” a commander shouted over the radio to the armored car drivers. The drivers did not know them.

“Is it stupidity or sabotage?” the commander shouted back.

Trucks were sent to search for the armored vehicles. Hours passed before they arrived and it was already morning, even though the invasion of Russia would begin at night. It would now take place in daylight.

“It’s war, nothing ever goes according to plan,” said one of the officers.

Later, one tank broke down before reaching the border, and another was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the fighting.

The group returned to its base on Thursday evening, without having broken through the border. Military officials reached by phone said they would try again this weekend.

Iran and the United States held secret, indirect talks in Oman in January on the escalating threat that the Houthis in Yemen pose to shipping in the Red Sea, and on attacks on US bases by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Iran said and Iranian authorities. U.S. officials familiar with the discussions.

The secret talks took place on January 10 in Muscat, Oman’s capital, with Omani officials passing messages back and forth between delegations of Iranians and Americans sitting in separate rooms. The delegations were led by Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator, and Brett McGurk, President Biden’s Middle East coordinator.

The meeting, first The Financial Times reports this This week marked the first time in nearly eight months that Iranian and U.S. officials held face-to-face negotiations — albeit indirectly. U.S. officials said Iran requested the meeting in January and the Omanis strongly recommended that the United States accept it.

Since the start of the war in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, the United States and Iran have reassured each other that neither was seeking a direct confrontation, a position conveyed in messages sent through intermediaries passed on.

But in Oman, both sides had a clear request from the other, U.S. and Iranian officials said.

Washington wanted Iran to rein in its proxies to stop Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria. Tehran, in turn, wanted the Biden administration to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.

However, no agreement was reached and within hours of Mr McGurk leaving the meeting with the Iranians, the United States led military strikes on multiple Houthi targets in Yemen on January 11. In early February, the United States launched attacks on Iran-affiliated military bases in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers in an attack by Iraqi militias near Iran.

Attacks on US bases in Iraq have since ended, and there have been only a few reports of such attacks in Syria.

A senior US official said the United States was involved in the talks to show that even as tensions rose, Washington was still open to diplomacy with Iran – but that if the dialogue failed to produce results, the United States would use force would use.

Two Iranian officials, one from the State Department, said that Iran maintained during the talks that it had no control over the activities of the militia, especially the Houthis, but that it could use its influence over them to ensure that all attacks would come to a successful end. a halt if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza – but not before.

Iran and the United States have continued to exchange regular messages about the proxy militias and a ceasefire since their meeting in January, with the Omanis acting as intermediaries, U.S. and Iranian officials said.

“Having communication channels, even if indirect, can certainly be useful in reducing the possibility of miscalculations and misunderstandings,” said Ali Vaez, the Iranian director of International Crisis Group. “But as we have seen since then, especially but certainly not exclusively following the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, tensions between the two sides remain significant.”

The United States and Iran both made decisions in February to avoid direct war. U.S. forces avoided direct hits on Iran in their military response, and Iran convinced the militia in Iraq to stop attacks on U.S. bases and the militias in Syria to reduce the intensity of the attacks and prevent American deaths.

But according to the Pentagon, the Houthis have continued with 102 attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 19. As of March 14, the United States had carried out 44 strikes on Houthi targets, but these attacks have not deterred the Houthis, who have threatened to use more advanced weapons.

A senior US official said the Houthis had conducted a test launch of a new intermediate-range missile. The official said reports in Russian news media this week about the Houthis gaining access to hypersonic missiles were most likely inaccurate.

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Thursday that the Houthis would expand their targeting range to prevent Israeli-affiliated ships from passing through the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, along Africa’s far southern coast.

Analysts said the Houthis had proven to be a winning card for Iran in the current conflict, damaging international shipping and raising the stakes of the Gaza war beyond the region. It is a lever that Iran will not easily give up, analysts said.

Last spring, Iranian and American delegations in Oman negotiated a deal to release American prisoners held in Iran in exchange for the release of about $6 billion from Iran’s frozen oil revenues in South Korea. They also reached an unofficial agreement to defuse tensions in the region and reduce the severity of attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria.

“The goal of the recent negotiations in Oman was for both sides to return to that unofficial agreement and keep tensions at a low level,” said Sasan Karimi, a political analyst in Tehran. “We should not expect breakthroughs between Iran and the US; for the time being it is all limited to the region. They want Iran to use its persuasive power on the militia, and Iran says, not so fast, not until you give us a ceasefire.

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting from Washington.

The Kremlin has fired its top naval commander in the biggest fallout yet from a series of devastating attacks by Ukraine on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, a Ukrainian and a Western official said.

Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, head of the Russian Navy for the past five years, was relieved of his command and replaced by the head of Russia’s Northern Fleet.

Russian publications reported on Sunday, based on anonymous sources, that Admiral Yevmenov had been fired. The Financial Times quotes Ukrainian officials: reported the development on Monday. However, the Russian government has refused to confirm the personnel changes.

U.S. officials have concluded that while Kiev’s counteroffensive last year in eastern and southern Ukraine largely failed, its attacks on the Crimean Peninsula and attacks on the Black Sea Fleet were unexpectedly effective.

The victories are all the more surprising because Ukraine does not have a traditional navy or fleet of warships. Instead, Ukraine has used naval drones and missiles to attack Russian ships.

U.S. officials believe Ukraine has sunk 15 Russian ships in the past six months. European officials have said the naval victories have reopened the western Black Sea, allowing Ukraine to once again ship grain from Odesa.

A Ukrainian military intelligence official said the removal of Admiral Yevmenov from command was directly related to the loss of Russian ships.

Ukraine estimates that a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which once numbered 80 ships, has been destroyed since the war began two years ago. The sinking of the Moskva, Russia’s flagship, in April 2022 with a Ukrainian-built missile was one of Kiev’s great symbolic victories.

But the more recent campaign has been just as important for practical gains. As a result of the attacks, Russia has withdrawn its fleet from the Ukrainian coast and the western Black Sea.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian army had “effectively won the war for control of the western half of the Black Sea.”

“And Ukrainian grain is now flowing again through the Bosphorus to Africa and China, which are Ukraine’s traditional markets,” Mr. Sikorski told reporters in Washington at a breakfast hosted by The Christian Science Monitor.

At a Senate hearing on Monday, CIA Director William J. Burns said Ukraine could carry out more attacks against Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet if the United States provided additional military assistance.

“Ukraine can continue to exact costs against Russia, not only with deep penetration attacks on Crimea, but also against its Black Sea Fleet, and can continue this success, which has resulted in the sinking of fifteen Russian ships over the course of the past six months.” Mr. Burns, who wrote in an article this year that Ukraine should redouble such tactics.

Ukrainian military analysts said the decision to replace the top naval commander made sense as Russian efforts to defend its fleet from attack have failed.

“What have the Russians done to increase the effectiveness of countering our attacks?” Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst, told Ukrainian news media. “Nothing. They currently have no effective solution to increase the security of their warships. The only viable solution they could implement was flights from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk.”

Russian publications have reported that Admiral Yevmenov will be replaced by the head of the Russian Northern Fleet, Admiral Aleksandr A. Moiseyev. However, Admiral Yevmenov is still listed as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy on the Russian Army’s official website.

“There are decrees that are classified as secret,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov told reporters on Monday. “I can’t comment on them. No public decrees have been published on this matter.”

Instead, the Russian military has made statements about naval operations, including a statement on Tuesday about Russian naval vessels taking part in joint exercises with Iran and China in the Gulf of Oman.

It is not the first time that questions about the leadership of the Russian Navy have gone unanswered in public.

In February, Russian Telegram channels that track the country’s military reported that the top officer of the Black Sea Fleet had been removed, but he is still listed as the fleet’s commander on the Russian military’s website.

Last year, Ukrainian authorities claimed to have killed the same commander, but Russia quickly distributed images of him giving an interview to prove he was alive.