Blinken back to Middle East to push for Gaza truce

Two weeks prior to US elections, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on Monday to continue his push for a truce in Gaza, which he sees as a fresh opportunity after Israel killed the leader of Hamas.

During his most recent visit to Israel in August, Blinken warned that it might be the “last chance” for a US-led ceasefire agreement. This will be the senior US diplomat’s eleventh journey to the Middle East since the war began a year ago.

That attempt failed, and since then, Israel has been attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and threatening to launch a fresh attack directly on Iran, whose clerical officials support both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Since Israel murdered Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, US President Joe Biden, who personally outlined the ceasefire plan on May 31 that would also rescue prisoners from Gaza, has found fresh hope.

While in Germany, Biden told reporters he had called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him and inform him that Blinken will be visiting the area.

“I told him that we were really pleased with his actions and, further, that now is the time to move on — move on, move towards a ceasefire,” Biden said on Thursday.

The Gaza war was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel last year that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

42,603 individuals, primarily civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory attack in Gaza, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled region, which the UN deems credible.

According to an AFP count of Lebanese health ministry data, Israel increased its combat operations in Lebanon last month, killing at least 1,470 people since then.

Days prior to Blinken’s visit, he and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Israel that unless more humanitarian aid is permitted into Gaza, where the UN says more than 1.8 million people are suffering from “extreme hunger,” the United States may withhold some of its billions of dollars in military aid.