Blinken will visit Israel, Egypt and Qatar during his trip.
Washington:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a new crisis tour of the Middle East on Sunday, seeking to push for a proposal to halt the devastating conflict in exchange for the release of hostages.
Blinken’s fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel comes days after the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria. Joe Biden The latest escalation in a conflict the president initially sought to avoid.
The trip comes as the Biden administration gradually expresses more dissatisfaction with Israel, imposing sanctions on extremist settlers on Thursday even as the United States ignores international calls for Israel to end its military operations.
The proposal being discussed, reportedly drafted a week ago during talks between the CIA director and Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials in Paris, would suspend fighting for an initial six weeks and would see Hamas release those seized on October 7 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas sources.
Blinken’s trip will include visits to Israel, Egypt and Qatar, a key intermediary for Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and has an office in Doha.
Blinken, speaking after a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Washington on Monday, said there was “real hope” that the “good and strong proposal” would succeed.
Qatar has also expressed optimism, although Hamas says no deal has been reached and there are divisions within Israel, with hawks opposing concessions to Hamas.
Hundreds of people rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand swift action to free hostages and early elections as they decried the inability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government to win their freedom.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged the debate within Israel on Sunday but said “the ball is now in Hamas’s court” when it comes to the deal.
More assistance is urgently needed
Sullivan told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Blinken would press Israel to provide more food, water, medicine and shelter to Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble by nearly four months of bombing.
“When he sees the Israeli government, that will be his top priority – that the needs of the Palestinian people will be front and center of U.S. policy,” Sullivan said.
Countries and aid groups have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine due to Israel’s actions, with severe shortages of food and drinking water.
Blinken is expected to begin his trip on Monday in Saudi Arabia, which had been considering steps to build ties with Israel ahead of the Oct. 7 attack that could be crucial for the country that is the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites. A historic step.
Blinken said after meeting Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his last trip in January that he still saw a “clear interest” in pursuing normalization.
But criticism is growing across the Arab world over Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which has killed 27,200 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.
The Israeli operation came after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel on October 7, killing some 1,160 people, mostly civilians, in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.
The militants also held 250 hostages. The November truce collapsed after just over a week and 105 hostages were released. Israel said some 132 hostages survived, including the bodies of at least 28 hostages.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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