by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Monday launched a diplomatic effort in the Middle East to reach a deal to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and free hostages there, even as a drone attacked a military base used by troops. Americans and allied forces. in eastern Syria.
Mr. Blinken, doing his fifth trip to the region since the October 7 attack on Israel, met in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on the first stop of a trip that will also include meetings in Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.
Speaking to the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Blinken “underscored the importance of addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza and preventing further spread of the conflict,” the State Department said. He added that they discussed “a lasting end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
Blinken hopes to reach a deal that could temporarily halt the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, secure the release of hostages left there in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, and allow more desperately needed aid to reach the Strip. from Gaza. territory.
But even as Blinken sought to ease tensions in the region, a drone attacked a base in eastern Syria housing US and allied troops, killing six Kurdish fighters, according to the official media outlet of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an organization Kurdish. led group.
Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said no American injuries were reported following the drone attack.
The Syrian Democratic Forces blamed the attack on an Iran-linked militia group, which would make it the latest in a series of attacks by Iranian-backed militias since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas.
For the past decade, the Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of fighters from the local Kurdish ethnic minority, have operated in eastern Syria with the support of a US-led international coalition that needed a local partner to fight the Islamic State group. . Although ISIS has been largely defeated there, a limited number of US troops have remained on the ground.
US forces in the region have come under repeated attacks by Iranian-backed militant groups in recent months, as the groups have attacked bases and troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, as well as US-owned ships in the Sea Red.
The United States and its allies have responded with several rounds of airstrikes, including some over the weekend against a militia in Yemen in response to attacks on ships, and on Friday against targets in Syria and Iraq in response to an attack with drones that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.
The Biden administration has said it does not want to engage in direct military conflict with Iran. Iranian officials have also said they want to avoid a broader war, while warning they would respond if attacked.
“Iran does not seek to increase tension and crisis in the region; we do not support tension and chaos,” a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said Monday. “Iran has shown that it will react strongly to any threat to its sovereignty and will not hesitate to deploy all its capabilities for a response that will make them regret it.”
U.S. analysts and officials have said Iran exercises varying degrees of control over armed groups it supports in the region. And analysts have warned that both sides risk tit-for-tat attacks spiraling out of control.
Amid fears of a broader war, Israeli forces advanced Monday toward Rafah, a southern Gaza city that is a main entry point for aid and shelter for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forced to flee their homes. at the beginning of the war.
On Monday, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, called Rafah “the last stronghold of Hamas.”
“All terrorists hiding in Rafah should know that they will end up like those in Khan Younis, Gaza or anywhere else in the Gaza Strip,” Gallant said, referring to other cities in the territory that have been bombed by Israeli forces. “Surrender or die: there is no third option.”
The pivot toward Rafah could increase international pressure on Israel, including from its closest allies, over the safety and well-being of civilians.
At a news conference in Washington on Monday, Vedant Patel, a spokesman for the US State Department, noted that Rafah is an important conduit for humanitarian aid and a place where Americans and other foreign nationals have been able to leave Gaza and enter in Egypt. He also pointed out that more than a million people are sheltered there.
“So of course we want any operation that takes place in that region to take this into account,” he said.
Israel invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped another 240 in a cross-border attack on Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials. Since then, more than 27,000 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
Israel has said its troops will continue fighting in Gaza until Hamas is defeated and the remaining hostages, believed to number more than 100, are freed.
As the war’s toll has risen, American diplomats have tried to negotiate some kind of respite from the fighting, even with Blinken’s repeated tours of the region.
As of Monday afternoon, the United States had nothing to announce publicly about a ceasefire and hostage agreement. A Hamas-affiliated broadcaster, Al-Aqsa, reported on Sunday that the group was still considering the proposal, a week after it was formulated.
In Saudi Arabia, the Biden administration also hopes to urge the country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, a long-term goal that the United States sees as important to stabilizing the Middle East.
Under the proposed deal, the United States would offer Saudi Arabia a defense treaty, help with a civilian nuclear program and increase arms sales, while the Saudis and Americans would, in theory, get Israel to agree to conditions to take concrete steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi recognition.
But as much of the world urged Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the United Nations turned to investigating the main Palestinian aid agency in the territory, prompted by Israel’s accusation that 12 employees of the agency had joined the October 7 attack or its aftermath.
On Monday, the United Nations appointed Catherine Colonna, former French foreign minister, to lead a review of the UNRWA agency. Israel’s accusation led at least 12 countries, including the United States and Germany, the two largest donors, to suspend funding to the agency.
The review “will assess whether the agency is doing everything in its power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of serious violations when they are made,” the UN said.
Leily Nikounazar, Michael D. Shear and Aaron Boxerman contributed with reports.
