Today, Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, upon his arrival in Tel Aviv as part of a Middle Eastern tour, called for calm and an end to escalation in the Palestinian territories, and before that he called from Cairo to confront Iran's influence in the region.
In statements he made shortly after his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Blinken called on all parties to stop the violence and acts of escalation that claim the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, and said that calming the atmosphere and spreading peace to protect the lives of Israelis and Palestinians is everyone's responsibility, he said.
Blinken denounced all those who celebrate what he called acts of terrorism, saying that there is never a justification for acts of violence against civilians, and he was referring to the reactions to the occupied Jerusalem operation, in which 7 Israelis were killed.
The US Secretary of State will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after which he will go to Ramallah to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier today, Monday, Blinken met in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and the talks dealt with the escalation in the Palestinian territories.
And the US Secretary of State said during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart that he discussed with Sisi and Shukri ways to reduce tension and restore calm, adding that there is a "frightening" escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israelis, and that Washington is seeking to calm the situation.
As for Shoukry, he said that Egypt stressed the need to work to "contain the recent wave of violence and take into account the interests of all parties and the stability of the region."
Commenting on the visit, the regional spokesman for the US State Department told Al-Jazeera that Secretary Blinken will stress the need to create an atmosphere for resuming negotiations on a two-state solution, adding that Washington has always opposed the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Al-Sisi (right) and Blinken discussed tensions in the Palestinian territories in Cairo (Reuters)
Confronting Iran's influence
On another issue, the US Secretary of State said in Cairo that it is important to continue working to confront Iran's actions in the region.
"For the United States and for many of our partners in the region, it is very important that we continue to confront and address Iran's various actions in the region and beyond, as necessary," Blinken added.
In conjunction with the US Secretary of State's tour of the region, a military facility belonging to the Iranian Ministry of Defense in Isfahan Governorate (center) was attacked by drones.
US officials said that Israel was behind the raid, while Reuters quoted a Pentagon spokesman as saying, "No US military force participated in the strikes on Iran."
In the past weeks, Washington has repeatedly confirmed that it is not seeking to resume negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement with Iran, and has pledged to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.