U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for a week of diplomacy on Israel’s war in Gaza, visiting Israel and the West Bank, as well as Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters
U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for a week of diplomacy on Israel’s war in Gaza, visiting Israel and the West Bank, as well as Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over the next week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
The visit comes amid heightened concerns the nearly three-month-old conflict is spreading beyond Gaza, drawing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Blinken will discuss specific steps parties in the region can take to prevent the conflict from expanding, Miller said at a regular press briefing.
"It is in no one's interest - not Israel's, not the region's, not the world's - for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza," Miller said.
Blinken would also discuss immediate measures to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza and efforts to bring home remaining hostages taken by Hamas, Miller added.
Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
Israel has said it will seize a chunk of southern Lebanon to create a "buffer zone" against Hezbollah militants, stoking fears among Lebanese of Israeli military occupation that could deepen instability and stoke further displacement.
The Israeli military announced Friday the discovery of an active Hezbollah tunnel network beneath a church in Khiam, a town in southern Lebanon where fierce fighting continues.
Gulf Arab states are telling the U.S. that any deal with Tehran should do more than end the war, and must permanently curb Iran's missile and drone capabilities and ensure global energy supplies are never again "weaponised", four Gulf sources said.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.