Blinken is expected to press Netanyahu in Israel for further aid to Gaza

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged Palestinian militant Hamas twice to accept an offer of a deal that will free captives and bring about a ceasefire, while also kicking off a series of meetings with Israeli authorities on Wednesday to examine ways to get more humanitarian goods into Gaza.

As he wraps off his extended Middle East tour, the top U.S. ambassador is currently in Israel after stops in Riyadh and Amman earlier this week.

This is Blinken’s seventh trip to the area, which saw fighting break out on October 7th as a result of an attack on Israel by Hamas.

Encouraging the Israeli government to take a series of specific actions to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into the densely populated enclave will be Blinken’s first goal in Israel.

At the beginning of his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Blinken stated, “Even as we’re working with relentless determination to get the ceasefire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza for suffering in this crossfire of Hamas’ making.”

“Focused on getting them the assistance they need, the food, and medicine, the water or shelter is also very much on our minds,” Blinken stated.

Israeli counts indicate that in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 more.

In retaliation, Israel has attacked Gaza nonstop, killing over 34,000 Palestinians in a bombardment that has left the territory little more than a wasteland, according to local health authorities. According to the UN, after six months of conflict, more than a million people fear starvation.

About a month after U.S. President Joe Biden sent a strong warning to Netanyahu, stating that Washington’s policy might change if Israel does not take action to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of relief workers, Blinken will meet with Netanyahu to discuss aid.

For the first time, Biden has vowed to use US assistance to pressure Israel to change its military tactics in order to justify Israel’s offensive in Gaza, provided that the country takes proactive measures to safeguard civilians and humanitarian workers.

Although there has been some success in preventing “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in the northern Gaza Strip, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to take further action on Tuesday.

According to Blinken, the first assistance shipments from Jordan to the recently opened Erez gate in northern Gaza will depart on Tuesday. Additionally, items are arriving via the port of Ashdod, and a new maritime corridor will be ready in roughly a week.