Secretary of State Blinken Says Biden To Visit Israel On Wednesday, Will Be Briefed On Israel’s ‘War Aims And Strategy’
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(Washington Examiner) Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday amid Israel’s war with Hamas that has world leaders on high alert for escalation with Iran.
“The president will reaffirm the United States solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security,” Blinken told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
“President Biden will underscore our crystal-clear message to any active state or nonstate trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel. To that end, he’s deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region,” he added.
Blinken offered that forecast at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning local time, an odd hour suggestive of the urgency and uncertainty that characterizes diplomatic discussions in the wake of the unprecedented Hamas terrorist attack that has ignited a major conflict in Gaza. That crisis is complicated by the fact that Hamas took about 200 people hostage, and Iran and its proxy forces have threatened to intervene if Israel proceeds with its stated intention to eradicate the terrorist group.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in Tel Aviv, Tuesday Oct. 17, 2023, after an overnight meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
“President Biden will receive a comprehensive brief on Israel’s war aims and strategy,” Blinken said. “The president will hear from Israel — how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.”
The president will also travel to Amman, where he will be hosted by the king of Jordan and meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“He will reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a Monday evening statement.
Those travel plans have come together as Iran threatens to launch “preemptive action,” perhaps through Hezbollah, its terrorist proxy entrenched on Israel’s border with Lebanon, to constrain Israel’s plan to target Hamas.
