Blinken meets with Bin Salman to try to promote normalization with Israel

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken advocated this Wednesday for an end to fighting between Israel and the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, but intense Israeli airstrikes on a large historic Lebanese port city showed that there was no truce.

After meeting with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken traveled to Saudi Arabia regional power, where he met with the crown prince and ruler in factMohamed bin Salman. According to the State Department, they discussed efforts to end the Gaza war and the fighting in Lebanon, Reuters reports.

The American Secretary of State has focused his visit to Riyadh on promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabiabefore a meeting on Friday in London with the heads of Arab diplomacy on the wars in the Middle East, reports Afp. In a statement, the State Department reported that Blinken and the crown prince discussed “the need to end the war in Gaza,” as well as efforts to achieve “lasting regional stability, including through greater integration between the countries of the region”.

Before leaving for Riyadh, Blinken had called on Israel to take the opportunity to end the war in Gaza and normalize relations with Saudi Arabia. “This remains, despite what is happening, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a completely different direction that offers a sustainable path for Israel’s security and its place in the region,” he declared. “Saudi Arabia would be at the center of all this, including a possible normalization of relations with Israel.”

Humanitarian situation in Gaza

Washington has called on its ally Israel to do more to help Gazans. If the humanitarian situation in Gaza is not addressed, more insurgents could emerge, said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Blinken, who has traveled to the Middle East regularly since the outbreak of war, is making his first trip since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, its most wanted enemy, whose death Washington hopes could boost peace.

The journey is also the last great peace initiative of the United States before the presidential elections on November 5, in which Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will face each other, which could alter US policy in the region, according to Reuters.

Washington intends to avoid further aggravation of the conflict in anticipation of Israeli retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on October 1, launched by Tehran in solidarity with Hezbollah and Hamas.

Blinken said Wednesday that Israel’s retaliation should not lead to further escalation. After Blinken left Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallantvisited a military base and told troops that once Israel attacked Iran everyone would understand its strength.

Israeli bombing of Tire

In Lebanon, huge clouds of thick smoke rose above residential buildings in Tyre, the UNESCO-listed port city in southern Lebanon, which Israel began shelling about three hours after issuing an online order to residents fleeing central areas. Tens of thousands of people have already fled Tire as Israel intensifies its campaign to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both close allies of Iran, its archenemy in the Middle East.

The port is usually a lively southern nerve center with fishermen, tourists and even UN peacekeepers taking a break from their deployments near the border and spending their time by the sea there. But Israel’s evacuation orders this week have for the first time covered swaths of Tyre, all the way to its ancient castle.

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