A top US diplomat stresses the need to find a path to a Palestinian state following his latest visit to the Middle East.
Providing Palestinians with a path to statehood can stabilize the Middle East and isolate Iran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he wrapped up his latest visit to the region amid the continuing war. Israel against Gaza.
Speaking to reporters Thursday after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the top U.S. diplomat said the region faces two paths, the first would see “the integration of Israel, with guarantees of security and commitments from countries in the region as well as the United States. States, and a Palestinian state – at least one path to get there.”
“The other path is to continue to see terrorism, nihilism, destruction by Hamas, by the Houthis, by Hezbollah, all supported by Iran,” he said.
“If you go the first route… it’s the best way to isolate, to marginalize Iran and the proxies who are causing so much trouble – for us and for almost everyone in the region.”
Blinken’s visit comes a day after Egypt and Jordan warned that Israel’s military campaign, which has killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry, should not displace the 2, 3 million inhabitants of the strip nor end with an Israeli occupation.
Unrest in the region
Blinken’s comments come after he visited several regional allies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Turkey, in a bid to prevent the war in Gaza from sparking a regional conflagration.
Israel’s northern border with Lebanon has been the scene of almost daily exchanges of fire between the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group and Israeli forces over the past three months.
While artillery exchanges have remained largely confined to areas along the border, last week’s assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut and several Hezbollah members has raised the prospect of escalation. wider.
On another front, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to carry out attacks on ships in the Red Sea, threatening global trade, despite threats from the United States and its Western allies to take action against the group if it continues its attacks. On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling on the Houthis to “immediately cease all attacks.”
US forces in Iraq and Syria have also faced a surge in attacks since the start of the war. Last week, the Iraqi government accused the United States of carrying out a drone attack targeting an Iran-aligned paramilitary group in the capital Baghdad that killed and injured several people.
During his tour of the Middle East, Blinken urged Arab countries to “stay in control” to avoid a spread of conflict.
In recent days, America’s top diplomat has also stressed the need for Israel to reduce civilian casualties, as images of the devastation caused by the bombing of Gaza sparked global condemnation. On Thursday, South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice for genocide.
Before traveling to Cairo, Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, where he reiterated U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian state and called on the Authority Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza once the war is over. Such a scenario has not been approved by Israeli political leaders who have so far not shared their plans for the governance of Gaza after the war.
