by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Monday began a trip to the Middle East aimed at preventing a broader war in the region and rallying allies around a proposal to free hostages held in Gaza. The visit comes as the Biden administration carries out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militias that have attacked US troops.
Blinken landed in Saudi Arabia in his fifth trip to the region since the October 7 attacks in Israel. U.S. officials said he hopes to advance talks on the proposal and will hold meetings with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank, all key players in negotiations over a possible pause in the fighting in Gaza.
The Biden administration and its Arab allies are still waiting for a response from Hamas to a framework for a deal that would involve the exchange of more than 100 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinians held in jails. Israelis.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to detail diplomatic efforts, said Blinken will tell U.S. allies in the region that the Biden administration’s recent attacks on Iran-backed militias should not be interpreted as an escalation of the fighting in the Middle East. This.
The United States has carried out dozens of military strikes in recent days against targets in Iraq and Syria, in retaliation for the killing of three American service members at a base near the Syrian border in Jordan. And American and British warplanes, supported by their allies, have carried out a new round of airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen in an effort to deter the group from attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The attacks in Iraq and Syria prompted Russia to call an “urgent” meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which was scheduled for Monday afternoon. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, on Saturday accused the United States of further escalating the conflict in the Middle East and said the attacks demonstrated the “aggressive nature of American policy” in the region.
In Israel, Biden’s top diplomat will convey American concerns about the rising number of civilian deaths in Gaza. More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and nearly two million people have been displaced by the fighting.
“We have been equally clear that we have to be vigilant and respond to the immense and terrible suffering of the Palestinian people,” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday. “And that means putting pressure on Israel on issues related to the humanitarian assistance that we have helped unlock and bring to the Gaza Strip, and there needs to be much more.”
Blinken will also discuss what diplomats call “day after” plans for managing Gaza once the fighting ends, including a possible role for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration also hopes to make progress toward getting Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, a long-term goal the United States views 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.
