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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken known as Monday for “pressing steps” to calm spiralling violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after high-level talks in Jerusalem.
Washington’s top diplomat travelled to Jerusalem on the second leg of his Middle East tour, after meeting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and foreign minister in Cairo.
Israel is reeling from an attack Friday that killed seven civilians outside a synagogue in annexed east Jerusalem, a day after the deadliest army raid in years in the occupied West Bank claimed 10 Palestinian lives.
Following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken urged “all sides now to take urgent steps to restore calm, to de-escalate”.
“We wish to be sure that there’s an surroundings in which we are able to, I hope, sooner or later, create the situations the place we are able to begin to restore a way of safety for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” he said.
In the latest bloodshed, Israeli troops Monday killed a Palestinian driver in the West Bank, officials on both sides said, with the army saying the car had hit a soldier’s leg before speeding off.
Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 35 Palestinian adults and children — including attackers, militants and civilians.
Over the same period six Israeli civilians, including a child, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed. All were shot dead in the attack Friday outside the synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement.
‘Dangerous developments’
The United States has historically taken a lead on Middle East diplomacy, and Egypt, which has relations with Israel, has long served as a mediator in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Following what Blinken described as “very candid” dialogue with Netanyahu, the highest US diplomat is because of meet Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
Blinken envoy may even journey to Ramallah in the West Bank for talks with Palestinian chief Mahmud Abbas.
Abbas met with CIA chief William Burns in Ramallah late Sunday to debate the “harmful developments”, said the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The US embassy declined to comment.
Blinken’s long-planned visit has taken on a new urgency amid the spiralling violence.
The fatal east Jerusalem shooting was preceded by the Israeli forces’ deadliest operation in the West Bank in years.
Ten people were killed Thursday in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp, in a raid Israel said targeted Islamic Jihad operatives.
The military later hit sites in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu’s cabinet has vowed a tough response and moved to punish “the families of terrorists that support terrorism” with residence demolitions and different measures.
His authorities can also be planning to rescind the rights to social safety advantages of attackers’ kin, and steps to make it simpler for Israeli residents to acquire permits to hold firearms.
‘Death spiral’
The newest bloodshed has heightened worldwide concern, with Pope Francis on Sunday deploring the “dying spiral”.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged all parties to avoid feeding a “spiral of violence” and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov known as for “most accountability” on all sides.
Blinken on Monday met Sisi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
Blinken commended Sisi for “Egypt’s important role in promoting stability in the region” and “mentioned ongoing efforts to deescalate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,” said the State Department.
The diplomats and intelligence services of Egypt — a major recipient of US military aid — are regularly called upon to intercede between Israelis and Palestinians.
Blinken’s Israel visit is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to engage quickly with Netanyahu, who had tense relations with the previous Democratic president Barack Obama.
While there, Blinken reiterated US support for a Palestinian state, a prospect few expect to advance under the new Israeli government.
Netanyahu, a veteran leader, returned to power late last year at the helm of the most right-wing government in Israeli history.
In Jerusalem, Blinken mentioned he mentioned with Netanyahu the preservation of the established order on the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem.
Israel’s extreme-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, sparked global condemnation this month when he visited the site which is administered by Jordan.
The compound is the holiest site to Jews, who refer to it as Temple Mount, and the third most sacred place in Islam.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed)
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