THE US State Secretary, Antony Blinken ended his tour of the Middle East, with analysts saying the latest effort was likely not to achieve the results amid the ongoing war, Daily Times reports. The visit by Blinken is his fourth since the start of the war on October 7 last year. Instead of bringing a solution and ordering the Israelis to stop the onslaught on the Gaza people, analysts believe US efforts and the latest tour was just a damage control exercise after the latter has been facing, international pressure to stop supporting Israel.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled from Israel to the West Bank and then Bahrain. The stops were part of a tour that included visits to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, with a final stop in Egypt on Thursday. Much of the attention was on the US’s continued support of Israel, as it continues its months-long military campaign in Gaza. An estimated 23,357 Palestinians have died in that offensive, amid mounting concerns over human rights violations. Analysts described the latest tour as an attempt at “face-saving”, as Blinken sought to walk a fine line between exerting influence over Israel and failing to publicly exercise any real leverage.
“We want this war to end as soon as possible,” Blinken told reporters on Tuesday. But three months into the war, an “endgame” remains elusive, said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, the director of research for Israel-Palestine at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). “There’s still no plan,” he told Al Jazeera. He cast doubt on Israel’s stated mission of eliminating the Palestinian group Hamas as part of the war. On his visit to Tel Aviv, Blinken called on Israel to accept a two-state solution for Palestine, something he again discussed with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday.
However, Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected any moves towards a two-state solution and has said Israel will maintain security control over Gaza for an indefinite period after the war. Meanwhile, on Thursday and Friday, Israel and South Africa squared off at the International Court of Justice after the later filed a case of genocide by Israel on Palestinian people. By Desmond Nleya, Daily Times
