Joe Biden to send Blinken to Mideast to firm up ceasefire

Bloomberg

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East, President Joe Biden said, as the US continues to try to cement a fragile cease-fire that ended renewed conflict in Gaza.
Biden announced the trip in a written statement on Monday morning, tasking Blinken with building ties with both Israelis and Palestinians. Blinken will visit Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman from
Monday through Thursday.
It’s the latest sign that the US will be called upon to steer peace efforts in the region at a time when Biden had signalled other foreign policy priorities, including reorienting supply chains and doing more to compete with China. Biden’s response to the conflict was muted for days, part of what his administration called “quiet diplomacy.”
Blinken “will meet with Israeli leaders about our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” Biden said. “He will continue our administration’s efforts to rebuild ties to, and support for, the Palestinian people and leaders, after years of neglect.”
Biden said Blinken will also “engage other key partners in the region” to ensure aid reaches Gaza and skirts the control of Hamas.
Blinken will first travel to Jerusalem, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials, according to a statement from State Department Spokesman Ned Price. He’ll meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, before later holding meetings with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
“Secretary Blinken is travelling to the region to discuss essential follow-up efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and reduce risks of further conflict over the coming months,” Price said.
On Sunday, Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” that next steps towards peace include addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“President Biden’s focus on relentless, determined, but quiet diplomacy is what got us to where we needed to be, which was to get the violence ended as quickly as possible, to stop more human suffering, and to at least put ourselves in a position to make a turn, to make a pivot to building something more positive,” he said.