CAIRO – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel this week after completing a six-nation tour through the Arab nation aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas war from sparking a wider regional conflict.
The US State Department announced Blinken’s plans to travel Monday to Israel — his second visit in five days — as America’s top diplomat arrived in Cairo for talks Sunday with Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
It was Blinken’s last meeting with Arab leaders amid growing fears that an impending Israeli ground attack on Gaza could spark a wider war with devastating humanitarian consequences.
Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters traveling with Blinken that the secretary would return to Tel Aviv “for further negotiations with Israeli officials.” Miller did not elaborate.
Before landing in Egypt, Blinken met on Sunday morning with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The meeting follows talks three days earlier with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Blinken will return to Israel this week after completing a six-nation tour through Arab countries.via REUTERS
Blinken began a whirlwind trip Thursday in Israel, pledging support and solidarity for the country as it responded to Hamas’s surprise attack last week. Blinken also spoke by phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to seek Beijing’s support in preventing others from getting involved.
But as plans for Israeli military action to eliminate Hamas have taken shape with intense airstrikes and warnings for more than a million Palestinians to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, fears of a wider conflict are growing. In his discussions with Arab leaders Blinken has emphasized the importance of not allowing that to happen.
Underscoring America’s concerns, the US military has deployed a carrier battle group in the Eastern Mediterranean and on Saturday announced the deployment of a second.
Blinken met on Sunday morning with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.AP US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane leaving Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 15, 2023.AP/AFP via Getty Images
The presence of the navy is intended to be a deterrent to other countries and groups, such as Iran and Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, from entering the conflict.
Also on Saturday, as the Israeli military said its attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza would begin soon, President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
US officials said Arab reaction to Blinken’s message was generally positive — acknowledging Israel had the right to respond to Hamas attacks but expressing deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and unable to remain silent about the Palestinian civilian casualties. Arab leaders also say the current situation cannot be resolved without an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that gives Palestine an independent state.
In his roughly hour-long meeting with Prince Mohammed at the de facto Saudi leader’s private estate outside Riyadh, Blinken “underscored the United States’ unwavering focus on stopping terrorist attacks by Hamas, ensuring the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading,” said the State Department.
“The two reaffirmed their mutual commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability throughout the Middle East and beyond,” according to a department statement.
The Saudi description of the meeting focused primarily on Palestinian civilians, echoing the sentiments of other Arab leaders Blinken had met. It said Saudi Arabia would object to targeting “civilians in any way or interfering with vital infrastructure and interests that affect their daily lives.”
The prince “stressed the need to work to discuss ways to stop military operations that cost innocent lives,” the Saudi Press Agency said in a report on the meeting.
Prince Mohammed also explained the Saudi emphasis on the need to “stop the current escalation, respect international humanitarian law, including lifting the siege on Gaza, and work to create conditions for the return of stability,” he said.
An Israeli soldier walks in front of a moving tank with an Israeli flag on top at a staging area near Israel’s border with Lebanon, on Sunday, Oct. 15. 2023. AP
Before the Hamas attack in Israel last Saturday, Blinken had planned to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia this week to discuss ongoing negotiations for an agreement to normalize relations between the two countries.
After the attack, Blinken changed his plans so he could travel to Israel quickly to show solidarity. Normalization talks are now on hold, an outcome that the US and other officials believe is the ultimate goal of Hamas and its main sponsor, Iran.
Neither the US nor the Saudi statement mentioned the matter.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
