Israel’s war: Blinken’s visit reveals sharp differences between US and Arab countries

Sharp differences remained between the United States and its Arab partners over their response to Israel’s war against Hamas after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Middle Eastern counterparts in the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday.

According to CNN, the top US diplomat took part in a summit convened by Jordan’s foreign minister, which included senior diplomats from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

At the summit, Arab leaders called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while Blinken reiterated US opposition, arguing it would give Hamas militants time to regroup and launch another attack on Israel.

Standing next to Blinken at a news conference after the summit, the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt renewed their calls for an immediate ceasefire and strongly condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

“Collective punishment – Israel attacking innocent civilians and facilities, medical facilities, paramedics, in addition to trying to force Palestinians to leave their lands – this cannot be legitimate self-defense at all,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Blinken again called on Israel to “take all possible measures” to prevent civilian casualties, a message he conveyed at meetings in Tel Aviv on Friday.

The US Secretary of State, as noted by CNN, has consistently advocated for humanitarian pauses to facilitate the delivery of fuel to the war-torn strip and the evacuation of civilians. He pushed for such pauses by Israeli officials during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military cabinet on Friday, but hours later Netanyahu publicly rejected the idea, saying he would not allow a ceasefire or pause until there was hostages held by Hamas were released.

Still, following his meetings in Amman, Blinken sought to highlight areas of common interest between the U.S. and its regional partners.

“We come together here today with the same fundamental interest and goal: to end this conflict in a way that brings lasting peace and security to the region,” Blinken said. “We may have different views and positions regarding certain necessary steps to achieve this goal, but today we reaffirmed our individual commitments to continue working towards this goal.”

“We all agreed on the importance of using our respective influence and capabilities to deter any state or non-state actor from opening another front in this conflict or committing other destabilizing actions,” Blinken continued.

The head of the State Department also emphasized that they all want to increase the volume of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

“I think we all share deep concern about the plight of civilians in Gaza – men, women and children,” the US secretary of state said. “We worked very hard to make sure that this help could get to them.”

Israeli military forces have called on civilians to leave northern Gaza amid intensifying Israeli military offensives, CNN reports.

US Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in the Middle East David Satterfield said on Saturday that between 800,000 “to perhaps a million” people had moved from the north of Wadi Gaza to the south, and that the mass displacement had created significant challenges for the humanitarian response.

Satterfield said there was a need to ensure the “safe, sustainable movement” of aid not only from the Rafah crossing into Gaza, but also “to places where it is needed in the south.” He said the US is seeking to establish “practical arrangements” to provide aid workers with assurances of their safety as they carry out their work.

Satterfield said capacity to assist with displacement has increased exponentially, especially in recent days, but he reiterated that even the 100 or so trucks passing through the city per day is not enough right now.

While the US believes the current flow of 100 to 120 trucks per day into Gaza is sustainable, “this is hampered by environmental conditions in southern Gaza,” Satterfield said.

“Gaza had… an environment that allowed for a more normal commercial life, using gas for cooking, cooking oil, provisions, basic necessities,” he said. “The situation is different now.”