In the midst of an escalating humanitarian crisis, the stakes have never been higher for the people of Gaza.
With tensions escalating and lives at stake, the call for ceasefire has grown louder.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revive ceasefire talks to end the war in Gaza and pressed for more aid to be allowed to enter the Palestinian territory.
This came as Blinken arrived in Israel on his 11th visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began more than a year ago. It is his first trip to the region since Israel escalated its conflict with Hezbollah late last month.
Aside meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the top US Diplomat met Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog.
At the meeting in Jerusalem, the US official pressed Netanyahu to “capitalise” on Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week in order to bring the war in Gaza to an end.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said after the talks that Blinken underscored the need to capitalise on “Israel’s successful action to bring Yahya Sinwar to justice” by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Miller disclosed that Blinken also emphasised the need for Israel to take additional steps to increase and sustain the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure that assistance reaches civilians throughout Gaza.
Additionally, the US State Department said that Blinken and Netanyahu discussed ways of implementing a long stagnant 2006 UN resolution passed after the last Israel-Hezbollah war that would restore security and calm along the Israel-Lebanon border and allow civilians on both sides to return home.
Israel’s conflict with the Iran-linked armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon has intensified in recent weeks after a year of cross-border fighting.
However as Blinken met Israeli leaders, Hezbollah ruled out entering negotiations with Israel while fighting continues, and it claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting Netanyahu’s holiday home on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s office said that Sinwar’s killing “may have a positive effect on the return of the hostages, the achievement of all the goals of the war, and the day after the war.”
However, there was no mention of a possible ceasefire after a year of war in which Hamas’s military capabilities have been greatly degraded and Gaza largely reduced to rubble, with the vast majority of its 2.3 million Palestinian residents displaced.
In his statement, Netanyahu also stated a need for change in the security and political situation in Lebanon that would allow Israelis to return safely to their homes that had come under Hezbollah rocket fire.
Sparse Hope Of Blinken’s Visit Resulting In Breakthrough
Binken’s visit got off to an inauspicious start as Hezbollah launched medium-range missiles towards Tel Aviv, which, according to Israeli media, temporarily shut down Ben Gurion Airport, where Blinken landed.
The backdrop of violence to Blinken’s visit serves to illustrate the sparse hope that his visit will result in a breakthrough.
Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, has questioned the goal of US Secretary of State Blinken’s 11 trips to the region since the Gaza war began.
“What has come out of those 11 trips? Nothing but continued Israeli aggression, war, mass killing, the expansion of the war into other fronts.
“I think it’s fair to wonder or to say whether this is just a show for appearances, something to run interference for the Israelis while the United States continues in every possible way to support Israel, including in its war aims.”
Omar Rahman
Washington says it wants regional de-escalation and a ceasefire in Gaza, but the Biden administration has refused to suspend US weapons transfers to Israel.
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