BLINKEN HEADS TO MIDDLE EAST FOR TALKS WITH ARAB ALLIES

By JACOB MAGID and TOI staff, January 5, 2023: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Zumpango, Mexico, on December 27, 2023. (Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP)

Leading US diplomats will visit various countries in the reg ion, pushing Israel to help Palestinians and allow Gazans to return to their homes in the north as tensions rise after Arouri's killing. 

Amid growing concern that the Israeli-Hamas war could develop into a larger regional conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the Middle East on Thursday for several meetings. 

According to Matt Miller, a State Department spokesman, the secretary will stop in several countries: Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt. It will be Blinken's fourth trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza was sparked by a brutal Hamas attack on Oct. 7. 

Although originally scheduled to arrive in Israel later this week, Blinken postponed his arrival until early next week, on Tuesday. 

On Thursday, Miller told reporters that Blinken would speak in Israel about "transitioning to the next phase of the war," which would specifically involve "allowing Palestinians to return to their homes and neighborhoods when fighting is curtailed."

Israel has prevented Palestinians from leaving northern Gaza since the beginning of the conflict. Israel claims that Hamas fighters and other terror groups are still in northern Gaza. Miller's remarks show a gradual escalation of U.S. calls for Israel to let Palestinians return to northern Gaza, where many homes have been destroyed in fighting. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated in Thursday's plan for postwar Gaza that residents of northern Gaza will not be allowed to return to their homes until all hostages taken by the terror group are freed. 

Miller stated that Blinken would call on the Israeli government to take "immediate action to substantially increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza." Before the war, about 500 trucks of goods entered Gaza every day. Since the war, this figure has dropped to an average of less than 100 per day, except during a seven-day ceasefire in late November, when 200 aid trucks entered Gaza every day. 

In response to US pressure, Israel agreed to reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing last month. This would allow aid to enter directly from Israel into Gaza for the first time, along with aid through the Egyptian Rafah crossing. 

A report said that Israel is considering various additional measures in an attempt to maintain US support for the war.

Miller added that Blinken would talk with his Israeli counterparts about concrete ways to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza, reiterating that the toll was too high. However, despite the heavy civilian casualties, John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that the U.S. "has not seen anything that would convince us that we need to take a different approach in trying to help Israel."

Miller stated that Blinken would talk to Israeli officials about" the need to do more to lower tensions in the West Bank" given that the U.S. continued to hold Jerusalem from fire attributed to settler violence and release tens of millions of dollars of tax revenue the Palestinian Authority receives. 

Miller stated that Blinken's main focus during his trip would be ensuring the release of the remaining hostages, including American citizens in Gaza, and that the secretary would not stop working until all hostages were released. 

Blinken will continue to support U.S. efforts to stop the conflict in Gaza spreading from other fronts and "will discuss specific steps the parties can take, including how they can use their influence with other parties in the region to avoid escalation."

Miller stated that Blinken would stress the importance of taking action to prevent Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea as part of those discussions. 

According to Miller, the secretary would use their meeting to encourage action from all parties in order to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to advance a more cohesive region, "including an ongoing mechanism for reconstruction and a Palestinian-led government over a united West Bank and Gaza."

We expect that every conversation on this trip will go smoothly. A State Department spokesperson stated, "There are obviously difficult issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead, but the secretary is confident that it is the responsibility of the United States to lead diplomatic efforts to address those challenges head-on, and she is prepared to do so for the foreseeable future." 

Blinken's visit to the Middle East began less than three days after the death of Hamas terror chief Saleh al-Arouri in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Beirut and one day after twin explosions that killed dozens at a memorial to Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani.

Fears that the Israeli-Hamas war will develop into a larger regional conflict have arisen as a result of both events. Iran's proxy Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened war on Israel after the killing of Arouri, which he called a "great and dangerous crime that we cannot stand." 

However, the US and Israel have stressed that the alleged Israeli strikes only targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon. On Wednesday, Matt Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, stated that Washington's fears of an escalation of the conflict had not increased since the murder of Arouri. 

Some low-level Iranian officials addressed the blast at Soleimani's memorial to "Zionists," but later the Sunni terror organization Islamic State, which opposes Iran's Shiite regime, claimed responsibility for the blast. 

Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special envoy sent to the Middle East in an effort to ease tensions after Arouri's killing, met with Gallant on Thursday to discuss a possible diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah that would allow some 80,000 displaced people in northern Israel to return to their homes. 

Earlier on Thursday, French President Emanuel Macron called on Israel to stop the escalation, "particularly in Lebanon," a former French protectorate that has internal affairs overseen by France. The day before, Blinken spoke about de-escalation efforts with Catherine Colonna, his French counterpart.

News source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/blinken-heads-to-mideast-for-talks-with-israel-arab-allies-on-wars-next-phase/