Blinken sees progress in boosting Gaza truce
Secretary of state says still much work ahead
CAIRO — Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a two-day Mideast mission on Wednesday, winning diplomatic support and hundreds of millions of dollars of pledges from Arab allies as he moved to shore up the cease-fire that ended an 11-day war between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers.
But the mission made little headway in resolving the deeper issues at the heart of the Israeli-palestinian conflict, including the tensions in the contested holy city of Jerusalem.
After two days of talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab allies, Blinken acknowledged that any resumption of peace talks remained far off.
He said he had made progress toward the more modest goals of cementing the cease-fire and rebuilding Gaza.
“We see the cease-fire, not as an end, but as a beginning, something to build on,” Blinken said in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where he met King Abdullah II.
He said the first priority was to meet the immediate needs of Gaza’s 2 million people and then aim to “create better conditions in which we can try to move forward.”
Earlier, he was in Egypt for talks with President Abdel Fattah el-sissi.
The visits came a day after intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Blinken has vowed to “rally international support” to rebuild Gaza while promising to make sure that none of the aid reaches Hamas.
He also is trying to bolster Hamas’ rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.
In a boost to those efforts, the energy-rich Gulf country of Qatar pledged $500 million to postwar reconstruction in Gaza. Qatar often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and it has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to support past cease-fires.
In Cairo, Blinken met with el-sissi for nearly two hours.
Meeting with American diplomatic staff afterward, he described Egypt as a “real and effective partner” that helped end the Gaza war.
El-sissi spoke to President Joe Biden last week before and after the cease-fire was announced, and his government has also pledged $500 milllion in assistance to Gaza.
“I think we both believe strongly that Palestinians and Israelis deserve equally to, to live in safety and security to enjoy equal measures of freedom, opportunity and dignity. And we’re working on that together,” Blinken said.
El-sissi said the latest round of violence showed the urgency of resuming direct negotiations.
In a statement, he called for “active American engagement” to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
Jordan’s king echoed that call, noting “the pivotal role of the United States in pushing for the relaunch of series and effective negotiations.”
Both Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies that have peace agreements with Israel and frequently serve as mediators between Israel and the Palestinians. Egypt maintains ties with Hamas, but also enforces a tight blockade on Gaza, along with Israel, with a shared goal of preventing the Islamic group from arming.
One of the U.S. goals is to ensure that any assistance be kept out of the hands of Hamas, which opposes Israel’s right to exist and which Israel and the U.S. consider a terrorist group.