US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with officials in Israel on Tuesday for tense and high-stakes talks as the Gaza war threatens to engulf the Middle East.
Making his fourth visit to the region since the war broke out on October 7, Blinken arrived in Qatar on Sunday warning that fighting in Gaza could “easily metastasize” into a region-wide conflict.
With Israel continuing to fight Hamas forces in Gaza, as well as Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and the Red Sea, Blinken told reporters that the US has a “strong focus on preventing this conflict from spreading.”
“This is not necessarily an easy conversation, but it is important that we engage in this diplomacy now for the future of Gaza itself and for the people of Israel and Palestine,” Blinken said.
While in Qatar, the top US diplomat also discussed efforts to free more than 130 hostages who are still believed to be held by Hamas after the previous Qatar-led agreement ended.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his fourth trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began in October. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Blinken spoke with officials in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia before arriving in Tel Aviv late Monday to urge his leadership to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as well.
Blinken has called for Israel to allow the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the now 3-month-old war to reclaim their homes.
Blinken has emphasized the need for the war to end, given the increasing number of children injured and killed in the conflict. AP
“Palestinian civilians must be able to return to their homeland as soon as the situation permits. They cannot, must not, be forced to leave Gaza,” he said.
Blinken added that the war needs to end to avoid more civilian deaths in Gaza, with the death toll rising to a reported 23,000 and recently including two Al Jazeera journalists.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy. And that also goes for … too many innocent Palestinian men, women and children,” the secretary of state said.
Israel continues its ground invasion across Gaza with the aim of eliminating Hamas. via REUTERS
But Blinken’s job may prove to be his toughest yet, after the latest Israeli strikes that have killed senior officials with Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Last week, Hamas said its deputy leader abroad, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Beirut.
The incident was cited by the Qatari government as the reason the latest round of hostage negotiations with the terrorist group failed.
Later on Monday, Hezbollah said Wissam al-Tawil, a commander of Radwan’s elite forces, was killed along Lebanon’s southern border, the Washington Post reported.
A plume of smoke hangs over Gaza’s southern hub of Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike. AFP via Getty Images
The deaths are just the latest in ongoing fighting between Israel and its ally Hamas, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stating that 80,000 Israelis have been displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire since the war began.
“We are now at a crossroads: Either Hezbollah backs down, or we will push it,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, suggesting a two-pronged war for the Jewish state.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
