On Sunday, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Cairo, on a tour that includes Ramallah and Tel Aviv, amid tension and confrontations in the Palestinian territories.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Cairo today, Sunday, at the start of a three-day tour of the Middle East, coinciding with the escalation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The agenda of the visit includes discussing issues of Iran and the war in Ukraine.
After Cairo, Blinken will head tomorrow, Monday, to Jerusalem, where the new right-wing Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is raising concerns at home and abroad about the future of secular values in Israel and the stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.
And a series of violent acts that witnessed deaths occurred in the past few days, which raised fears of an escalating spiral of violence.
In his talks with Israel's new government, which includes ultra-nationalist parties seeking to expand West Bank settlements, Blinken will reiterate US calls for calm and reaffirm Washington's support for a two-state solution, though US officials acknowledge that longer-term peace talks are unlikely in the near future.
Blinken will also travel to Ramallah to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian officials and members of civil society.
This is Minister Blinken's first visit to the region since the formation of the last Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu last month.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said in a statement: "Secretary Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank during the period between January 29 and 31."
He added, "With the aim of consulting with partners on a range of global and regional priorities, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran, Israeli-Palestinian relations, preserving the two-state solution (...) and protecting human rights and democratic values, among other topics."
CIA Director William Burns anticipated Blinken's tour with a secret visit to Israel, which also included a visit to the occupied West Bank, with the aim of preparing for the US Secretary of State's tour, according to Haaretz newspaper.
A week ago, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited Israel and Palestine.
On Friday evening, 8 people were killed, including the perpetrator of the attack, and at least 6 others were wounded, in a shooting attack in front of a Jewish synagogue in the "Nabi Jacob" settlement near the town of Beit Hanina, which is built on its lands north of Jerusalem.
This came after the death of 9 Palestinians during its army storming the city and camp of Jenin in the northern West Bank. On Saturday, two Israeli settlers were wounded, one of them seriously, in a shooting near a settlement in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, according to official Hebrew media.
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