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Blinken to stress it’s time to end the war as he meets Saudi officials
There are priorities that perhaps the two sides [the US and Saudi Arabia] do not share.
Antony Blinken is keen on making sure to stress the US believes it’s time to end the war, to reach a solution, to get a deal done that would release Israeli captives from Gaza. But his team has also been very keen to also focus on messaging regarding humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.
Of course, that is contrasted by the Israeli messaging, which talks about victory and about continuing until all its war goals are achieved.
Saudi Arabia will want to listen to what can be done. There have been a lot of statements from Riyadh and other Arab capitals about the need to stop the war, not just in Gaza, but also in Lebanon. There is very serious concern about the destabilising effect all of these tensions, as well as talk about striking Iran, is having on the entire region.
‘Now is the time’ to end Gaza war: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to use the opportunity created by its success in dismantling much of Hamas’s capacity in Gaza and the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach a longer-term solution to the conflict.
“Now is the time to turn those successes into enduring, strategic success,” Blinken said, adding that this includes the return of all captives and an end to the war “with an understanding of what will follow”.
Blinken added that Israel should avoid “greater escalation” in its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.
“It’s also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation,” the secretary of state told reporters in Israel before leaving for Saudi Arabia, the next stop on his Middle East tour.
Blinken urges Israel to move towards Saudi normalisation
Blinken says that Israel should seize the “incredible opportunity” to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia, a process halted by the war in Gaza.
“There remains, despite everything that’s happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction,” he said before leaving Tel Aviv for Riyadh, adding: “Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalisation of relations with Israel.”
Blinken is tone deaf. The population was already against the Abraham accords before Oct 7 and the following genocide. Not gonna happen until a Palestinian state is officially recognized. And if the US pushes it through regardless, expect another Oct 7 :(
Blinken’s Middle East visit expected to yield limited results
Adel Abdel Ghafar, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, says Blinken’s visit to the region is unlikely to yield as much as his previous 10 trips.
“The US trying to wind down the conflict arguably two weeks before the elections is pure lame duck presidency – I don’t think Americans will be able to stop the Israelis in any shape or form in the next two weeks,” Gharaf said, noting that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is at its worst.
Washington’s efforts to normalise ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia have not shown much success.
“The US has been focused on the potential normalisation but the wars in Gaza and Lebanon have torpedoed that deal – even Saudi Arabia said they would not pursue any normalisation with Israel until the war ends, and the state of Palestine is not established.”
