Antony Blinken Travels to Israel to Coordinate American Aid for Gaza Conflict

Antony Blinken Travels to Israel to Coordinate Aid in Conflict with Hamas

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The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has left for Israel to coordinate with the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu on American aid to confront Hamas in the ongoing war in Gaza. Blinken made a statement before departing, saying, “We are determined to ensure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself and to ensure the safety of its people. The military assistance requested by Israel is already on its way.”

Blinken is scheduled to arrive in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning and meet with Netanyahu, as well as the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, other authorities, and employees of the United States embassy. He will spend a few hours in Israel before heading to Amman to hold meetings with Jordanian authorities on Friday.

During his trip, Blinken intends to reiterate the message of President Joe Biden that “now is not the time” for any country or organization that is an adversary of Israel to take advantage of the conflict. This statement comes in the wake of the unexpected and unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel last Saturday.

Since the attack, the Biden Administration has shown its support for Israel, offering all necessary help to confront the new war. The United States has pledged ammunition for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and sent an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to deter other adversaries from entering the conflict.

Blinken has been in contact with numerous Middle Eastern counterparts, seeking international condemnation of the Hamas attack. Additionally, he has sent messages to dissuade other actors, such as Iran, from joining the war.

Before boarding the plane, Blinken expressed his belief that Israel “will take every precaution it can” to avoid civilian casualties. He highlighted the stark contrast between democracies like the United States and Israel, which “respect international law,” and Hamas, which “puts Palestinian civilians at risk.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu announced the formation of an emergency government with Beny Gantz, a member of the opposition and former Minister of Defense and Chief of the Army Staff, to confront the war. The fighting, which began with a surprise attack by Hamas, has been ongoing for five days and has resulted in over 1,200 deaths in Israel and at least 1,055 in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombings.

President Biden reiterated the United States‘ commitment to Israel and the security of the Jewish people, pledging to work towards this goal. He stated, “My commitment to the security of Israel and the security of the Jewish people is unwavering. The United States supports it, and we are going to work on this throughout today and beyond.”

The situation in the region remains tense, with Blinken’s visit anticipated to improve coordination between the United States and Israel in addressing the conflict with Hamas.