(Jeddah) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for further talks on the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, with the United States stepping up efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement .
Mr. Blinken, who arrived in Jeddah in the west of the kingdom from Manila, is expected to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he has already met several times since the start of the war more than five months.
He is due to travel to Egypt on Thursday.
This is Mr. Blinken’s sixth trip to the Middle East since the start of the war triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented Hamas attack in southern Israel, which cost the lives of at least 1,160 people. most civilians, according to an AFP count established from official sources.
According to Israel, around 250 people were kidnapped during the attack and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, of whom 33 are believed to have died.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas. Its army launched a devastating offensive in the Palestinian territory which has so far left 31,923 people dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip besieged by Israel where the civilian population is on the verge of famine according to the UN.
On Tuesday, the Secretary of State denounced the fact that “the entire population” in Gaza suffers from “severe food insecurity”.
During his talks, he is expected to address efforts to reach “an immediate ceasefire agreement guaranteeing the release of all remaining hostages”, as well as “the intensification of international efforts to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza,” according to the State Department.
Mr. Blinken will also raise the question of “a political path for the Palestinian people with security guarantees for Israel, and an architecture for lasting peace and security in the region”.
The United States is carrying out intense diplomatic activity to rally Arab countries for reconstruction in Gaza once the conflict is over, as well as its governance.
Ultimately, the United States is working to facilitate a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which would contain American security guarantees for the Saudi kingdom, according to his entourage.
Mr. Blinken’s new tour of the Middle East comes at a time when talks for a truce between Israel and Hamas, accompanied by the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, are intensifying.
At the same time, the United States is urging its Israeli ally to avoid a ground offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, which, according to the White House, would risk causing even more civilian victims and “worsening the humanitarian situation.” already serious, would reinforce anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel.