Blinken wraps up frantic Mideast tour with tepid, if any, support for pauses in Gaza fighting
The Hindu
Blinken wraps up Middle East tour in Turkey after limited success in efforts to ease civilian suffering in Gaza. He met with Turkish FM Fidan, seeking support for Biden's proposal for “humanitarian pauses”. Protests against Blinken's visit occurred in Ankara and Adana.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a gruelling Middle East diplomatic tour on Monday in Turkey after only limited success in efforts to forge a regional consensus on how best to ease civilian suffering in Gaza as Israel intensifies its war against Hamas.
In the Turkish capital of Ankara, Mr. Blinken met with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan following a frantic weekend of travel that took him from Israel to Jordan, the occupied West Bank, Cyprus and Iraq, to build support for the Biden administration’s proposal for “humanitarian pauses” to Israel’s relentless military campaign in Gaza.
“All of this is a work in progress," Mr. Blinken said before leaving Turkey. "We don’t obviously agree on everything, but there are common views on some of the imperatives of the moment that we’re working on together.”
Mr. Blinken's shuttle diplomacy came as Israeli troops surrounded Gaza City and cut off the northern part of the besieged Hamas-ruled territory. Troops are expected to enter the city Monday or Tuesday, and are likely to face militants fighting street by street using a vast network of tunnels. Casualties will likely rise on both sides in the month-old war, which has already killed more than 9,700 Palestinians.
The top U.S. diplomat hopes that pauses in the war would allow for a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the release of hostages captured by Hamas during the militants' deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians — while also preventing the conflict from spreading regionally.
“We’ve engaged the Israelis on steps that they can take to minimise civilian casualties,” Mr. Blinken said before leaving Ankara. “We’re working, as I said, very aggressively on getting more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.”
“We are very focused on the hostages held by Hamas, including the Americans, and we are doing everything possible to bring them home,” he added.
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