This is Blinken’s third visit to the Middle East – and his sixth to Israel – since the start of the war between Hamas and the Hebrew state on October 7, and it comes hours before the end of the effects of a temporary truce that the parties concerned are working diligently to extend.
Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli leaders to discuss extending the temporary truce that saw Hamas release hostages and Israel release Palestinians from its prisons, as well as ways to enhance humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The US State Department announced that the Biden administration’s chief diplomat will visit both Israel and the West Bank, starting Thursday, where he will “discuss Israel’s right to defend itself in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law, in addition to the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages and protect the lives of civilians during… Israel’s operations in Gaza.
She added that Blinken will also discuss “the principles he outlined in Tokyo on November 8, the concrete steps to move towards the establishment of a future Palestinian state, and the need to prevent the expansion of the conflict.”
Blinken had announced from the Japanese capital that the Biden administration believes that the essential elements for restoring peace “must include not forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza – neither now nor after the war – and not using Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks.”
He added, “There will be no reoccupation of Gaza after the end of the war, and there is no attempt to besiege or encircle Gaza, and there is no reduction of the territory of Gaza.”
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