U.S. Secretary of State to visit Middle East as concerns over violence escalate – National | 24CA News

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will journey to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank this weekend, the State Department introduced Thursday, because the U.S. expressed alarm about escalating violence after Israel’s single deadliest operation within the West Bank in 20 years.

Blinken’s go to to Israel has been deliberate for weeks, however the Israeli raid on a West Bank refugee camp earlier Thursday — which the Palestinians say killed 9 individuals, together with a 61-year-old lady _ will seemingly dominate his talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The Israeli navy additionally fatally shot a 22-year-old Palestinian later within the day.

The journey, the second by a senior U.S. nationwide safety official this month, had already been anticipated to be fraught with rigidity over disagreements between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, significantly on the Palestinian battle. Thursday’s raid and the following outcry are anticipated to make the go to much more troublesome.

The high U.S. diplomat for the Mideast mentioned the administration was urging either side to de-escalate tensions within the wake of the raid and decried a Palestinian announcement that they’d reduce off all safety cooperation with Israel consequently.

Barbara Leaf, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, mentioned U.S. officers had been in contact with high Israeli and Palestinian officers because the incident occurred to emphasize the significance of calming the state of affairs. She mentioned the civilian casualties reported in Jenin had been “quite regrettable.”

But, she additionally mentioned the Palestinian announcement that it will droop all safety cooperation with Israel within the aftermath was a mistake, as was a Palestinian vow to carry the matter to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

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“Obviously, we don’t think this is the right step to take at this moment,” Leaf advised reporters on a convention name. “We want to see them move back in the other direction. We don’t think it makes sense” to go to a world discussion board now, she mentioned. “They need to engage with each other.”

Blinken will maintain talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Sunday earlier than going to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday and Tuesday to see Netanyahu and Palestinian chief Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department mentioned.

He would be the second high Biden official to go to Israel this 12 months, following nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan, who made the journey simply final week as U.S. issues had been rising over the violence in addition to the route of Netanyahu’s new right-wing authorities.

“With both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the secretary will underscore the urgent need for the parties to take steps to deescalate tensions in order to put an end to the cycle of violence that has claimed too many innocent lives,” State Department spokesman Ned Price mentioned in an announcement.

The journey was introduced simply hours after the Israeli raid on suspected terrorists on the refugee camp within the West Bank metropolis of Jenin.

After the raid, Israel’s protection minister directed forces within the occupied West Bank and on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip to go on heightened alert as Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza, threatened revenge.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority mentioned it had halted safety cooperation with Israel and would file complaints in regards to the raid with the U.N. Security Council, International Criminal Court and different worldwide our bodies.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared since Israel launched the nightly raids within the West Bank final spring, following a spate of Palestinian assaults. The battle has solely intensified this month, as Netanyahu’s authorities got here to workplace and pledged to take a tough line in opposition to the Palestinians.

In Jerusalem and Ramallah, Blinken can even underscore the significance the U.S. attaches to sustaining the established order on the flashpoint Jerusalem holy web site recognized to Jews because the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, the place clashes have steadily erupted, Price mentioned.

The Biden administration has critical issues over the composition of Netanyahu’s authorities that features a number of far-right Israeli politicians who’re against a few of the administration’s elementary Mideast insurance policies, together with a two-state decision to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian battle.

Like Sullivan, Blinken doesn’t plan to fulfill with essentially the most controversial of these Cabinet members, in accordance with U.S. officers.

In Egypt, Blinken will elevate human rights points together with the unstable safety conditions in Libya and Sudan, the State Department mentioned.

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