Blinken in Jerusalem: US will aid Gaza without helping Hamas
International | May 25, 2021
On his first visit to Israel as secretary of state, top United States diplomat Antony Blinken affirmed on Tuesday President Joe Biden’s “personal” commitment to Israel’s security and said the US would take a lead role in the “urgent humanitarian reconstruction in Gaza” to ensure a better future for all sides.
“Leaders on both sides” need to take steps “to set a better course for their shared future,” he said, speaking to the press alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
Blinken’s meeting with Netanyahu launched a regional tour that saw him head to Ramallah Tuesday afternoon for meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and then to Jordan and Egypt in a bid to shore up last week’s Israel-Gaza ceasefire and launch the reconstruction effort…
(Excerpts from the Times of Israel)