JERUSALEM: The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pushing to get more aid into Gaza, while urging Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave.
Israel is the final stop on the top US diplomat’s Middle East tour, his seventh visit to the region which was plunged into conflict on October 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel.
Illustrating the trip’s humanitarian focus, Blinken will visit Ashdod port in the south, which has recently started receiving aid for Gaza. He will ask Israel’s government to take a set of specific steps to facilitate aid to Gaza, where nearly half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger.
During a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem lasting about 2 and 1/2 hours, Blinken noted improvement in delivering aid “and reiterated the importance of accelerating and sustaining that improvement,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
The United States is Israel’s main diplomatic supporter and weapons supplier. Blinken’s check-in with Netanyahu on aid comes about a month after US President Joe Biden issued a stark warning that Washington’s policy could shift if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.