Blinken meets with Saudi crown prince, hoping to rally support to end war in Gaza
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East on Monday in the hopes of preventing escalating tit-for-tat attacks with Iran-backed militias from spiraling into a broader regional war and to rally allies around a proposed cease-fire agreement for the Gaza Strip.
Blinken began his fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by meeting in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, discussing how to achieve “an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza” as well as the need to reduce tensions across the region, according to a State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
The secretary of state is scheduled to hold meetings with leaders in Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank – all key players in negotiations over a potential pause in the fighting in Gaza.
The Biden administration and its Arab allies are still awaiting a response from Hamas to a framework for a deal that would involve the exchange of more than 100 Israeli hostages held in Gaza for a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail the diplomatic efforts, said Blinken would tell U.S. allies in the region that the Biden administration’s recent strikes against Iran-backed militias should not be interpreted as an escalation of fighting in the Middle East.
U.S. and British warplanes, with support from allies, have carried out a series of airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen in an effort to deter the group from attacking ships in the Red Sea.
Miller said Blinken and the crown prince discussed the “urgent need to reduce regional tensions,” citing the Houthi attacks from Yemen that are undermining freedom of navigation.
The U.S. has conducted dozens of military strikes in recent days on targets in Iraq and Syria, in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. service members at a base near the Syrian border in Jordan.
Those strikes prompted Russia to call for an “urgent” meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which was scheduled to convene Monday afternoon. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, accused the United States on Saturday of further escalating conflict in the Middle East, saying the strikes demonstrated the “aggressive nature of U.S. policy” in the region.
In his conversation with Crown Prince Mohammed, Blinken stressed the importance of addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Miller said. More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed there since Oct. 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and nearly 2 million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Blinken is expected to convey U.S. concerns about the civilian death toll in Gaza when he visits Israel on this trip.
Blinken will also discuss what diplomats call the “day-after” plans for governing Gaza after the fighting ends, including a possible role for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration is also hoping to make progress toward getting Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, a long-term objective the U.S. sees as important to stabilizing the Middle East. Under a proposed deal, the U.S. would offer Saudi Arabia a defense treaty, help with a civilian nuclear program and increase arms sales, while the Saudis and Americans would, in theory, get Israel to accept conditions for concrete steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state in return for Saudi recognition.
Miller’s account of the meeting between Blinken and the crown prince did not contain any specific references to such efforts, but he said the two had discussed “building a more integrated and prosperous region and reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.