Blinken adds an Israel stop to his West Asia tour during the Gaza conflict
As part of his sixth urgent trip to the Middle East since Israel’s conflict with Hamas started in October, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel this week. The two nations’ ties have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks.
According to the State Department, Blinken’s most recent Middle East trip will come to an end on Thursday in Egypt after it began on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. Following discussions over the Gaza War with Arab presidents and foreign ministers in Jeddah and Cairo, the senior US diplomat will be in Tel Aviv on Friday.
Because of the increasing number of civilian deaths in the Gaza War, tensions between the US and Israel have been growing for months. Furthermore, they have been more intense after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will disobey President Joe Biden’s advice not to launch a significant ground assault in Rafah.
