To the latest in the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s Mideast trip. He headed to Egypt and Jordan early today as he pressed ahead with a diplomatic mission aimed at bolstering the Israel-Gaza truce that literally ended the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, the deadliest war on record.
Wrapping up talks in Israel early today before departing to Cairo in Egypt, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to “rally international support” to rebuild the destruction in hard-hit Gaza, while also making it crystal clear none of the aid devoted to rehabilitating the devastated Gaza Strip reaches Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organisation.
Blinken:
I travelled here at the request of President Biden who asked me to come to pursue four basic objectives: First, to demonstrate the commitment of the United States to Israel’s security; Second, to start to work toward greater stability and reduce tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem; Third, to support urgent humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Gaza to benefit the Palestinian people; And fourth, to continue to rebuild our relationship with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian authority.
Ahead of his departure, Blinken also extended President Joe Biden’s invitation to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to visit the United States in the coming weeks. And Rivlin has reportedly accepted the invitation.
Today, still hot on the trail of bolstering the fragile Israel-Gaza truce, Blinken had his hands full making diplomatic rounds with Egypt and Jordan, which he described as central players in trying to forge peace and calm in the region. Egyptian negotiators are believed to have an agile mind as they worked out a truce to halt the 11-day war. Both Jordan and Egypt are key U.S. allies that have peace agreements with Israel and frequently serve as mediators between Israel and the Palestinians.
He was scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, with whom Biden spoke during the 11-day war, and other top officials.
Meanwhile, in a gesture to the Palestinians, Blinken on Tuesday announced plans to reopen the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which former President Donald Trump downgraded and placed its operations under his ambassador to Israel. And the Biden administration has pledged some $360 million to the Palestinians, restoring badly needed aid that the Trump administration had cut off.
During a meeting with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Blinken made it clear Biden will pursue a more even-handed approach than Trump. He also said the U.S. was committed to rebuilding the relationship with the Palestinian Authority, and that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures of security, freedom opportunity and dignity.
Blinken expressed hope that a successfully international approach in Gaza would be crucial to knocking the wind out of the Hamas militant group, which has been ruling the Gaza Strip.
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