Top diplomat Blinken will visit the Middle East again this coming week. What can he achieve this time?

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war began in Gaza more than six months ago, the State Department said on Saturday.

Blinken is visiting Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days after returning to Washington following a trip to China. Blinken will attend the World Economic Forum conference and meet Arab foreign ministers in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official says Blinken will visit Israel on Tuesday, a stop not mentioned in the State Department’s announcement about Blinken’s itinerary.

His latest trip to the Middle East, following meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials, comes as the war continues, killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, displacing thousands and a worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza. happened. The war broke out in a surprise attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250.

US-backed efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages have failed. On Saturday, Hamas said it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire as Egypt stepped up efforts to sign a deal to end the war and prevent a possible Israeli ground attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Have done. A Hamas official did not provide any details of the proposal. Talks earlier this month focused on a six-week ceasefire plan and the release of 40 civilians and sick hostages in exchange for the freeing of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Since mid-October, Blinken has traveled between Israel and most of its Arab and Muslim neighbors to increase aid to civilians in Gaza, to prevent the conflict from spreading throughout the region, and to support plans for post-war reconstruction and governance of Gaza. Tried to make. – While vocally supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has increased political pressure in the US, with pro-Palestinian protests increasing at universities and resulting in what some say are demonstrations turning anti-Semitic.

Blinken and other US officials have tried to dissuade Israel from launching a large-scale military operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have fled to escape the fighting.

They have had limited success. Aid supplies to Gaza have increased, but not at a level that would prevent impending famine according to the United Nations, and Arab nations have agreed to support plans being developed for Gaza’s future.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken would discuss “ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that ensures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that stands between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire.” Blinken will stress the importance of preventing the conflict from escalating and discuss “efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including a path to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”

Israel is stepping up preparations for an attack on Rafah, and the conflict has escalated, particularly after a suspected Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria. Iran retaliated with drones, ballistic and cruise missile launches, leading to an apparent Israeli airstrike near a major airport and nuclear site in central Iran.

,

Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Disclaimer: This post has been automatically published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – The Associated Press)