Amid Gaza war, Blinken adds Israel stopover to West Asia tour

Jeddah, March 20

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this week as part of his sixth urgent mission to the Middle East since the Israelis’ war with Hamas began in October, as relations between the two countries have soured dramatically in recent weeks.

The State Department said the Israel stop would cap Blinken’s latest Mideast tour that started in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and will continue in Egypt on Thursday. The top US diplomat will be in Tel Aviv on Friday after talks with Arab leaders and foreign ministers in Jeddah and Cairo focused on the war in Gaza.

Tensions between the US and Israel over the prosecution of the Gaza war have been mounting for months over rising civilian casualties. And they have intensified as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will ignore President Joe Biden’s warnings not to start a large-scale ground operation in Rafah. — Reuters