Blinken headed for Middle East to push Gaza ceasefire plan
Al Jazeera
Israel continues to batter Gaza as the US presses for a UNSC vote to help push the ceasefire plan.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to arrive in the Middle East to push the latest proposal for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
Washington’s top official is expected to visit Egypt and Israel on Monday as he launches his eighth tour of the region in as many months, before continuing to Jordan and Qatar. He will seek support for the latest draft of thd ceasefire deal presented by President Joe Biden 10 days ago, which the US also hopes to put to a vote at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
However, with neither Israel nor Hamas having fully endorsed the plan, fighting continues, with air raids hitting across the Gaza Strip overnight on Sunday and Monday morning.
In Cairo, Blinken will meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi before visiting Israel for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
As well as pressing the ceasefire proposal, the US official is set to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a vital point for aid shipments into Gaza that Israel seized amid its ground invasion of the south of the enclave last month.
