This tour will be US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s fifth visit to the Middle East since Israel began a deadly offensive on Gaza on October 7, in response to an attack by Hamas.
In an attempt to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia as part of his ongoing tour addressing the Middle East crisis.
Blinken arrived in Riyadh on Monday, October 7, marking his fifth visit to the area since October 7. He is scheduled to visit Israel as well as Egypt and Qatar, which act as mediators.
He emphasized the importance of “urgently addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza” prior to the trip, following the repeated warnings from relief organizations about the terrible effects that nearly four months of Israeli attacks have had on the besieged enclave.
Said Hamouda, a Palestinian who fled his home to the southern Gaza city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, described the situation as “indescribable.”
More than half of Gaza’s population now resides in Rafah, which the UN has called a “pressure cooker of despair” because of Israel’s invasion.
Blinken is anticipated to talk about a framework for a truce that neither Israel nor Hamas have approved yet.
According to a Hamas source, the proposed truce would stop fighting for the first six weeks while Hamas releases hostages in return for Palestinians detained by Israel and more aid reaches Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, stated on Monday that Israel “will not accept” requests from Hamas for a swap, citing disagreements within his cabinet and popular outrage over the whereabouts of the remaining hostages.
According to a quote from the premier’s Likud party, the conditions “should be similar to the previous agreement,” which saw a ratio of captives traded for Palestinian prisoners during a truce in November.
There have been at least 27,478 Palestinian deaths, and
In addition to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, the Israeli offensive has caused 85% of Gaza’s population to be internally displaced. The UN estimates that 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or completely destroyed.
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