During his whistle-stop Middle East trip, United States secretary of state Antony Blinken has warned against expansion of the conflict beyond Gaza, pressed for a humanitarian pause and urged leaders to plan for a postwar Gaza. Since popular outrage has peaked over US support for Israel’s deadly and destructive war on Gaza, his visit to Israel was made public while other destinations were not advertised until he was preparing to depart.
In Tel Aviv, Blinken reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defence against Hamas. This was aimed at encouraging Israel to accept humanitarian pauses to permit the delivery of life-saving supplies into Gaza. But Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu flatly rejected pauses until Hamas releases 240 captives seized during its attack on October 7th, in which it killed about 1,400 people in Israel.
Netanyahu’s tough stance weakened Blinken’s appeals for regional patience while the Palestinian death toll rose to more than 10,000, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
In Amman, Blinken met Jordanian, Saudi, Lebanese, Qatari and Egyptian foreign ministers and Palestinian officials who demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The US opposes a ceasefire, arguing it would allow Hamas to regroup.
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When Blinken promised humanitarian pauses which he cannot deliver, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi told the BBC that “even if there are 100-200 trucks” of aid, the volume of supplies would be insignificant. He accused Israel of taking “2.3 million Gazans hostage” by bombing the strip while demanding the release of Israeli hostages.
On Sunday, Blinken secretly visited Ramallah where he thanked Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas for trying to keep a lid on violence in the West Bank. Since the Gaza war began Israeli troops and settlers have killed 155 West Bankers and detained 2,150. Abbas did not commit his Palestinian Authority to resuming rule in Gaza after the war unless Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are united in a Palestinian state.
Blinken made a surprise visit to Cyprus on Sunday where he was warmly greeted by President Nikos Christodoulides at Larnaca’s old airport. Blinken thanked Cyprus for receiving US evacuees who arrived on ships from Israel and discussed a proposed humanitarian maritime corridor between the island and Gaza, although the strip does not have a port capable of handling cargo. In the afternoon, a pro-Palestinian rally drew hundreds at Freedom Square in Nicosia. This was the second protest this week.
In Baghdad, Blinken donned a flak jacket and flew in an armoured helicopter to the fortified green zone where he demanded that prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hold pro-Iran Shia militiamen accountable for rocket and drone strikes on US military personnel based in Iraq and Syria.
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Israel stepped up bombings of Gaza yesterday as Blinken met his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara to discuss Washington’s proposals. In advance of Blinken’s arrival, Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to storm Incirlik airbase which hosts US warplanes and crews. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been heavily critical of Israel over the Gaza war, recalled Ankara’s envoy to Tel Aviv and left town to display his displeasure with Washington.
Blinken ended his tour with familiar assurances that regional governments would do their utmost to contain expansion of the Gaza war which would elicit massive Israeli retaliation. They argued they cannot avoid limited spillover, as exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hizbullah show. He did not receive an agreed plan for a postwar Gaza and instead faced fresh demands for a Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem Palestinian state. Blinken cannot meet regional demands for a ceasefire or, at a minimum, humanitarian pauses.
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