2023-11-04 16:40:00
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues intense discussions with several Arab countries on Saturday, looking for “mechanisms” aimed at sparing Palestinian civilians trapped in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Blinken is due to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman on Saturday evening, who is calling for “stopping the war in Gaza”, the day after a whirlwind visit to Israel from which he left generally empty-handed regarding calls for “humanitarian pauses” in the conflict, amid fears that the war could spread regionally.
Mr. Blinken is participating in a ministerial meeting with several Arab countries including the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Jordan, while the Arab countries forcefully condemn the Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip and civilian casualties since the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli soil.
The King of Jordan received in the morning the ministers of the five Arab countries and said that “it was the duty of the Arab countries to put pressure on the international community to stop the war in Gaza, to provide aid continuously in the Gaza Strip and protect civilians,” according to a Palace statement.
Jordan decided on Wednesday to recall its ambassador to Israel to protest against the Israeli military offensive in the small Palestinian territory.
A representative of the Palestinian Authority is also participating in the discussions in Amman.
“Practical arrangements”
In the morning, Mr. Blinken visited the headquarters of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) in Amman and spoke with his boss, Philippe Lazzarini, praising “the extraordinary work of the employees who day in and day out are a lifeline and pay a very, very high cost.”
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the US aid envoy for Gaza, Ambassador David Satterfield, said that some “350,000 to 400,000” Palestinian civilians are still present in the northern Gaza Strip, and that “s ‘They’re coming to the south, it’s going to complicate things.’
According to American estimates, some 800,000 to one million Gazans have fled to the South since the start of the war.
Aid continues to flow through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, but “in insufficient quantity”, he said, noting intense consultations with Israeli authorities on ways to find “practical and pragmatic”, “localized” arrangements, making it possible to reassure civilian populations and aid conveyors.
In Israel on Friday, for a whirlwind one-day visit, Mr. Blinken said he had discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the possibility of “humanitarian pauses” making it possible in particular to protect civilians and accelerate the delivery of goods. ‘help.
But Mr. Netanyahu issued a refusal, refusing a “temporary truce without the release” of the more than 240 hostages kidnapped on October 7 in Israel by Hamas.
According to the Israeli authorities, at least 1,400 people were killed on the Israeli side, the majority civilians on the day of the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, of unprecedented scale and violence since the creation of the State of Israel. Israel in 1948.
In retaliation, Israel declared a war to “annihilate?” Hamas, relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip led by the Palestinian movement. These strikes killed nearly 9,500 people, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas government.
Mr. Blinken, whose second tour to the Middle East since the start of the war, will also visit Turkey on Sunday and Monday, the State Department announced on Saturday, where he will continue his discussions with Ankara, also wind standing against Israel.
11/04/2023 15:39:34 – Amman (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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