Biden to visit Israel in ‘critical moment’ for the region, says Blinken
- 8 months ago
#englishnews #joebiden #antonyblinken
News Article :-
Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday after the US said it had reached agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the provision of humanitarian relief and safe areas to the more than 2 million people in Gaza currently under fire, and in urgent need of water, food and medical help.
The US president will also go to Amman for talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to fend off an even greater humanitarian disaster and a regional war that could draw in Iran and the US.
The president’s trip was announced by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, after more than seven hours of talks with Netanyahu and his national security cabinet. The Washington Post and Haaretz reported that the announcement was held back until the Israeli leadership agreed corridors for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and the creation of safe areas for civilians that would not be bombed.
Blinken said Biden was coming “at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world”.
He said Israel would brief Biden on its war aims and strategy, and on how it would conduct operations “in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas”.
Convoys of lorries carrying emergency food water and medical supplies are waiting on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza waiting for the crossing point at Rafah to open, while Palestinians with foreign citizenship wait on the other side to leave the enclave. Egypt controls the border but requires Israeli agreement on what and who is allowed to pass through it. The Rafah border post was hit by a blast attributed to an Israeli airstrike on Monday evening.
At least 49 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes that hit homes in Rafah and Khan Younis, Gaza’s interior ministry said.
The UN reported continuing heavy Israeli bombing along the Gaza Strip, with the Palestinian death toll from the past 10 days approaching 3,000. Israel has partly restored water supply to southern Gaza but the UN said it constituted only 4% of the normal flow into the territory. The lack of clean water and the presence of bodies under the rubble has brought fears of an epidemic. Hospitals are in a state of collapse in the absence of electricity and fuel for generators.
Israel has amassed a large force around Gaza’s borders in preparation for an invasion, in the wake of a Hamas attack on 7 October that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. The extremist group is holding 199 Israelis hostage, including women and children, inside Gaza. The ground assault has been held back during Blinken’s diplomatic initiative and amid fears that it could trigger an offensive by Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border.
As well as humanitarian corridors for aid to ent
News Article :-
Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday after the US said it had reached agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the provision of humanitarian relief and safe areas to the more than 2 million people in Gaza currently under fire, and in urgent need of water, food and medical help.
The US president will also go to Amman for talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to fend off an even greater humanitarian disaster and a regional war that could draw in Iran and the US.
The president’s trip was announced by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, after more than seven hours of talks with Netanyahu and his national security cabinet. The Washington Post and Haaretz reported that the announcement was held back until the Israeli leadership agreed corridors for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and the creation of safe areas for civilians that would not be bombed.
Blinken said Biden was coming “at a critical moment for Israel, for the region and for the world”.
He said Israel would brief Biden on its war aims and strategy, and on how it would conduct operations “in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas”.
Convoys of lorries carrying emergency food water and medical supplies are waiting on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza waiting for the crossing point at Rafah to open, while Palestinians with foreign citizenship wait on the other side to leave the enclave. Egypt controls the border but requires Israeli agreement on what and who is allowed to pass through it. The Rafah border post was hit by a blast attributed to an Israeli airstrike on Monday evening.
At least 49 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes that hit homes in Rafah and Khan Younis, Gaza’s interior ministry said.
The UN reported continuing heavy Israeli bombing along the Gaza Strip, with the Palestinian death toll from the past 10 days approaching 3,000. Israel has partly restored water supply to southern Gaza but the UN said it constituted only 4% of the normal flow into the territory. The lack of clean water and the presence of bodies under the rubble has brought fears of an epidemic. Hospitals are in a state of collapse in the absence of electricity and fuel for generators.
Israel has amassed a large force around Gaza’s borders in preparation for an invasion, in the wake of a Hamas attack on 7 October that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. The extremist group is holding 199 Israelis hostage, including women and children, inside Gaza. The ground assault has been held back during Blinken’s diplomatic initiative and amid fears that it could trigger an offensive by Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border.
As well as humanitarian corridors for aid to ent