DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: The United States’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken departs Monday for a Mideast trip aimed at consolidating the cease-fire that brought 11 days of deadly bombardment between Israel and Hamas to a halt.
“Secretary Blinken will meet with Israeli leaders about our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. “He will continue our administration’s efforts to rebuild ties to, and support for, the Palestinian people and leaders, after years of neglect.” At least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
At least 12 Israelis, including two children, were killed by rockets fired from Gaza before the ceasefire was reached on Friday.
Health authorities in the occupied West Bank have separately confirmed 27 killed in that region, bringing the total to 275 across all Palestinian territories. “At the request of President Biden, I am traveling to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman to meet with the parties to support their efforts to solidify a ceasefire,” the secretary of state said in a tweet on Monday.
The 11 days of fighting were proceeded by protests over the forced expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem and crackdowns by Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The violent storming of the mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr caused global outrage.
While the administration has been roundly criticised for appearing to take a hands-off approach to the violence, in the statement on Monday, Biden defended Washington’s “quiet, intensive diplomacy to bring about a ceasefire”.
