Blinken back to Mideast to push for Gaza truce
Published: 05:10 PM,Oct 21,2024 | EDITED : 08:10 AM,Oct 22,2024
Palestinians who were injured during an Israeli operation arrive at Al-Ahli Arab hospital. — AFP
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed back to the Middle East on a new push for an elusive Gaza ceasefire two weeks before US elections, seeing a new opportunity from Israel's killing of Hamas's leader. It will be the 11th trip to the Middle East by the top US diplomat since war broke out a year ago, with Blinken on his last visit to Israel in August warning it may have been the 'last chance' for a US-led ceasefire plan. That push did not succeed, and the conflict has escalated and expanded since then, with Israel pounding targets in Lebanon and warning of a new strike directly on Iran.
Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,603 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable. Last month, Israel expanded its military operations to Lebanon, where at least 1,470 people have been killed since then, according to Lebanese health ministry figures.
Blinken's trip comes days after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Israel that the United States could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military aid unless more humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza, where the UN warns more than 1.8 million people are facing 'extreme hunger.' Blinken is set to fly first to Israel and then tour other countries in the Middle East through Friday.
The State Department did not list his other stops but on previous trips he has visited a number of Arab countries, especially Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries in ceasefire negotiations.
Blinken 'will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all captives and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,' a State Department statement said. It said Blinken would also discuss post-war arrangements critical for a peace deal and seek a 'diplomatic resolution' in Lebanon, where the United States has stopped short of urging an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile, visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Monday the basis of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was a 2006 United Nations resolution but that it would require more than just commitments from the warring parties. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Lebanon, while demanding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory. Attention has focused on the resolution during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war that erupted last month after nearly a year of cross-border fire. — AFP
Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,603 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable. Last month, Israel expanded its military operations to Lebanon, where at least 1,470 people have been killed since then, according to Lebanese health ministry figures.
Blinken's trip comes days after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Israel that the United States could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military aid unless more humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza, where the UN warns more than 1.8 million people are facing 'extreme hunger.' Blinken is set to fly first to Israel and then tour other countries in the Middle East through Friday.
The State Department did not list his other stops but on previous trips he has visited a number of Arab countries, especially Qatar and Egypt, the key intermediaries in ceasefire negotiations.
Blinken 'will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all captives and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,' a State Department statement said. It said Blinken would also discuss post-war arrangements critical for a peace deal and seek a 'diplomatic resolution' in Lebanon, where the United States has stopped short of urging an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile, visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Monday the basis of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was a 2006 United Nations resolution but that it would require more than just commitments from the warring parties. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Lebanon, while demanding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory. Attention has focused on the resolution during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war that erupted last month after nearly a year of cross-border fire. — AFP