Blinken seeks 'enduring end' to Gaza war in latest Mideast tour

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Blinken seeks 'enduring end' to Gaza war in latest Mideast tour

Issued on: 05/02/2024 - 05:47
Modified: 05/02/2024 - 21:12

Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicked off Monday a Middle East tour seeking a new truce and "an enduring end" to the Israel-Hamas war, as Gaza saw no let-up in fighting.

On his fifth trip to the region since Hamas's October 7 attack that triggered the war, Blinken met Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler in Riyadh and was later expected to visit Israel and mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Blinken and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed "regional coordination to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza", said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

They also spoke of "the urgent need to reduce regional tensions", Miller said, referring to a surge in attacks across the region by Iran-backed Hamas allies that triggered counterattacks by the United States and its partners.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240205-blinken-heads-to-mideast-to-press-for-truce

[Eugene]

1. Blinken returns to Mideast in push for hostage deal and postwar plan for Gaza, but obstacles loom

Source: Associated Press

Blinken returns to Mideast in push for hostage deal and postwar plan for Gaza, but obstacles loom

MATTHEW LEE, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY
Updated Mon, February 5, 2024 at 1:46 PM EST·5 min read

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Arabia's crown prince Monday at the start of his fifth visit to the Middle East since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, hoping to press ahead with a potential cease-fire deal and postwar planning while tamping down regional tensions.

But on all three fronts he faces major challenges: Hamas and Israel are publicly at odds over key elements of a potential truce. Israel has dismissed U.S. calls for a path to a Palestinian state, and Iran's militant allies in the region have shown little sign of being deterred by U.S. strikes.

In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas has begun to re-emerge in some of the most devastated areas after Israeli forces pulled back, an indication that Israel's central goal of crushing the group remains elusive. Video footage from the same areas shows vast destruction, with nearly every building damaged or destroyed.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the military would continue to conduct operations in northern Gaza for many months and press ahead with its main offensive in the south, where it has been locked in heavy fighting for weeks, until it has “full reign” over the entire territory.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/blinken-returns-mideast-push-hostage-154214499.html

[AloeVera]

2. From "self-defense" to "full reign".

How did that happen? Why is it allowed to happen?

"Full reign" sounds like something a medieval tyrant would say. Or a King. Not a government of "the only democracy in the Middle East".

So what will that look like? Subjugation, sworn fealty, second-class citizenry for the few Gazans remaining in ghettoes or bantustans? Waterfront for the settlers and resorts? Apartheid extended, revisited, entrenched for good?

Deplorable.