Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia to discuss normalization with Israel, post-war Gaza
Top US envoy to meet with senior Saudi leaders; will hold wider talks with counterparts from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan on Strip’s reconstruction, governance
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the first stop in a broader trip to the Middle East to discuss issues including the governance of Gaza once the war between Hamas and Israel ends.
The top US diplomat heads to Israel later this week, where he is expected to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take further steps to improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Saudi leaders and hold a wider meeting with counterparts from five Arab states – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan – to further the discussions on what governance of the Gaza Strip would look like after the war, according to a senior State Department official.
Blinken is also expected to bring together Arab countries with the European states and discuss how Europe can help the rebuilding effort of the tiny enclave, which has been reduced to a wasteland in the nearly seven-month-long war, sparked when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel on October, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages. Israel responded with a declaration of war with the stated aim of toppling the terror group’s rule in Gaza, and securing the release of the hostages.
Conversations over Gaza’s rebuilding and governance have been going on for months with a clear mechanism yet to emerge.
The US agrees with Israel’s objective that Hamas needs to be eradicated and can no longer play a role in Gaza’s future, but Washington does not want Israel to re-occupy the strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly said Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza, but must maintain security control.
The US has been looking at a structure that will include a reformed Palestinian Authority with support from Arab states. While Netanyahu has said that he will not allow the Palestinian Authority to return to govern Gaza, he has sometimes qualified this assertion by saying that Israel won’t allow the PA in its current form.
Blinken will also discuss with Saudi authorities the efforts for a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel, a mega deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments, as well as nuclear cooperation.
In return for normalization, Arab states and Washington are pushing for Israel to agree to a pathway for Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.
From Riyadh, Blinken will head to Jordan and Israel, and the focus of the trip will shift to the efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In Amman, Blinken will meet with senior Jordanian officials and humanitarian groups to hear about the improvements and what more needs to be done and then take that feedback to the Israelis later this week.
“[Blinken] will discuss the recent increase in humanitarian assistance being delivered to Gaza and underscore the importance of ensuring that increase is sustained,” the US State Department said in a statement on Sunday announcing the expansion of the trip.
Blinken’s trip to check in on humanitarian aid comes about a month after Biden issued a stark warning to Netanyahu, saying Washington’s policy could shift if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.
Senior US officials in recent weeks have welcomed Israel’s steps to improve the humanitarian situation, but have repeatedly said that more needs to be done.
In a phone call on Sunday with Netanyahu, Biden mentioned the Israeli preparations to open new border crossings this week into northern Gaza, where the famine risk remains high, according to a White House statement.
The two leaders also discussed the latest attempts to secure an agreement that would see a truce and hostage deal.
