US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, greets to the press while boarding a plane at the "Felipe Angeles" International Airport after his meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Zumpango, State of Mexico, Mexico on Dec. 27, 2023. Blinken will head back to the Middle East on Thursday, Jan. 4, on a new crisis trip, a US official said, as fears rise of a regional escalation of the nearly three-month-old war. (Credit: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP)
WASHINGTON — US top diplomat Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday evening 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, 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 that 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.
At least 123 people remain captive in Gaza, of whom at least 23 have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas were moving slowly due to conflicting demands. Hamas officials declared the group would not begin any hostage exchange discussions until Israel had first ceased aggression in Gaza, while Israel said it would not agree to a cease-fire without first the guarantee of hostages being released.
Since the assassination of Hamas' deputy political leader in Beirut on Tuesday, attributed to an Israeli drone strike, mediation seems to be even more unlikely.
Blinken will depart on Thursday evening 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, State Department
spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
The visit comes amid heightened concerns the...