New tour in the Middle East by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinkenbusy pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, days after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. It is the eleventh trip to the region by the head of US diplomacy since the war broke out a year ago, just two weeks before the presidential elections in the United States.
A turning point could be an important boost for US vice president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, running against Donald Trump. Blinken’s trip comes just days after he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have warned Israel that the United States could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military aid unless it is allowed more humanitarian assistance in Gaza, where the UN has warned that more than 1.8 million people are facing “starvation extreme.”
The State Department announced the trip, without specifying – other than Israel – which countries will be affected. Blinken, who will be in the region until Friday, “will discuss the importance of ending the war in Gaza, ensuring the release of all hostages and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the statement said. Among the topics that will be addressed are post-conflict plans in Gaza and the search for a “diplomatic solution” in Lebanon where bombings and direct clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers continue.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic tour of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi continues, with visits to Kuwait and Bahrain, and the Foreign Minister and Vice President of the Council has also arrived in the region Antonio Tajani to meet the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahuthe Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and the Palestinian prime minister Muhammad Mustafa.
Speaking with his Israeli counterpart, the head of the Farnesina thanked the Jewish State for its collaboration with the Italian initiative ‘Food for Gazà together with the Palestinian National Authority but underlined that “now food and medicine must enter the Strip more quickly”. «After the disappearance of Sinwar in Gaza, we believe that the time has come to reopen the path to politics and diplomacy», stated Tajani, confirming «the solidarity and support of the Italian government on the issue of the release of the hostages still in the hands of Hamas.”
As for the situation in Lebanon, where the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni went last Friday, «we need to plan a political action that strengthens the Lebanese government, to avoid the definitive collapse of the country: in Lebanon as well as in Gaza we need to move towards a ceasefire, not towards an intensification of the fighting”, declared the head of the Farnesina, reporting that he found Netanyahu’s attention to Italy’s solution for the Land of the Cedars during their meeting in Jerusalem.
Tajani also spoke about the conditions of Unifil, the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon in which Italy participates in force and which was the subject of incidents last week with Israeli troops. Israel has provided Italy with reassurances “on the operational methods of the Israeli army in southern Lebanon around the installations” of the peacekeepers, Farnesina sources reported at the end of the meeting between Tajani and Netanyahu. The head of diplomacy also reiterated Italy’s commitment to the Aspides mission against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.