Today, Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will head to the Middle East to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials and other leaders in the region, as the ceasefire enters its fourth day, following the fiercest fighting in years between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian resistance factions.
The Foreign Ministry said that Blinken will travel to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman during his visit to Thursday, and will hold meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Announcing the visit, US President Joe Biden said that he had asked Blinken to make this trip after diplomatic efforts aimed at stopping the worst outbreak of violence between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in years.
Biden said - in a statement issued by the White House - "Blinken will meet with the leaders of Israel to discuss our firm commitment to its security, and he will continue our administration's efforts to build relationships and support the Palestinian people and Palestinian leaders after years of neglect."
Biden added that Blinken would also discuss "the international effort to ensure immediate aid arrives in Gaza in a way that benefits the people there, not Hamas, and reduces the risk of another conflict erupting in the coming months."
In the same context, Reuters quoted a senior US State Department official as saying that aid to Gaza will be through the United Nations mainly with the participation of the Palestinian Authority, adding that Egypt will play a role in providing aid.
In response to a question about whether Washington will pave the way for peace talks in the future, the US official said that "the main focus now is on the ceasefire," noting that Washington is committed to the two-state solution and does not back down.
Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip, on which Israel has imposed a blockade, since it won the legislative elections in the summer of 2006.
And at dawn on Friday, a cease-fire took effect between the Palestinian factions in Gaza and the Israeli occupation, after the aggression on the Strip, which is inhabited by more than two million Palestinians, where the aggression lasted 11 days.
The aggression on the Palestinian territories resulted in 280 martyrs, including 69 children, 40 women and 17 elderly, in addition to more than 8,900 injured, in addition to the damage to 1,800 housing units and the destruction of 184 towers and houses, and a number of factories and economic facilities.