Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan after he visits Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced on Sunday. The US official will be in the region until May 1.
REUTERS JERUSALEM POST STAFF APRIL 29, 2024 07:26
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, June 7, 2023.(photo credit: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy Saudi Royal Court/Handout via Reuters)US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia Monday morning for the first part of a wider Middle East tour.
This trip is aimed at discussing with Arab partners post-war Gaza and to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take concrete and tangible steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Saudi leaders and hold a wider meeting with counterparts from five Arab states – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan – to further the discussions on what governance of the Gaza Strip would look like after the war, according to a senior State Department official.
Blinken is also expected to bring together Arab countries with the European states and discuss how Europe can help the rebuilding effort of the tiny enclave, which has been reduced to a wasteland in the six-month long Israeli bombardment, following Hamas’s brutal terror attack on Israel and its kidnapping of over 200 hostages to Gaza.
A group of European nations, including Norway, plan to recognize Palestinian statehood in conjunction with the presentation of an Arab state-backed peace plan to the United Nations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures while he deboards an airplane as he visits Saudi Arabia in the latest Gaza diplomacy push, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 29, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)
“We can see by joining forces we can make this more meaningful. We really want to recognize the Palestinian state, but we know that is something you do once,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.
Blinkin’s trip comes as Egypt was expected to host leaders of Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Advancing regional security
In Saudi Arabia, the Secretary will participate in a Ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council to advance coordination on regional security, the State Department shared on Saturday in its plan for the trip.
At the World Economic Forum’s special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development, the Secretary will meet with US partners to ensure continued progress on climate change mitigation and global energy transition.
Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan after he visits Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced on Sunday. The US official will be in the region until May 1.
Conversations over Gaza’s rebuilding and governance have been going on for months with a clear mechanism yet to emerge.
The United States agrees with Israel’s objective to that Hamas needs to be eradicated and can no longer play a role in Gaza’s future but Washington does not want Israel to re-occupy the strip.
Instead, it has been looking at a structure that will include a reformed Palestinian Authority with support from Arab states.
Blinken will also discuss with Saudi authorities the efforts for a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel, a mega deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments as well as nuclear cooperation.
In return for normalization, Arab states and Washington push for Israel to agree to a pathway for Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.
This is a developing story.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-799047.