America’s top diplomat calls for civilians to be protected as he meets with Saudi Arabia as Hamas accuses Israel of bombing a convoy of Palestinians fleeing Gaza
America’s top diplomat Antony Blinken has called for civilians in the Gaza Strip and Israel to be protected as he meets with Saudi Arabia.
In recent days, the US Secretary of State has stepped up his diplomatic outreach across the Middle East to get an international response to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from expanding.
Blinken met with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh before stopping in the United Arab Emirates as he looked for ways to help civilians caught between the fighting.
He also called his Chinese counterpart as Palestinians struggled to flee areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military ahead of an expected ground offensive.
His comments came after the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry reported that an Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian convoy heading north of Gaza killed as many as 70 people on Friday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he leaves Doha on October 13, 2023 en route to Manama, Bahrain.
An Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian convoy fleeing northern Gaza on a route allegedly approved by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has killed as many as 70 people, the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry said. being managed, said
A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023
Women and children as young as two to five were among the dead after a strike hit a Palestinian convoy of vehicles fleeing north from Gaza to the south, a BBC report said.
Many Palestinians are struggling to escape from areas targeted by the Israeli military as they grapple with a growing water crisis after Israel halted the flow of resources to the region.
Reports emerged yesterday afternoon along with video of the devastation at the scene following the strike.
The BBC Verify service said it had confirmed that the strike took place on Salah-al-Din Street, which is one of two evacuation routes from northern Gaza to the south.
Hamas terrorists have urged civilians to ignore the evacuation order and some are refusing to leave, with Mahmoud Shalabi – director of Medical Assistance for Palestinians – saying ‘no place is safe in Gaza’ and he hopes to ‘die with dignity’ ‘.
In visits to Saudi and UAE leaders, Blinken cited the need for humanitarian assistance and safe passage of those seeking to leave Gaza while speaking to Arab audiences from their home turf, where his hosts put that issue at the top of their concerns.
Blinken also reached out to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to ask for his country’s help in preventing the war from spreading, and asked Beijing to use whatever influence it has in the Middle East.
Blinken’s spokesman declined to characterize Wang’s response, but said the US believes it and China have a shared interest in the region’s stability.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops ahead of the push into Gaza
Smoke billows from a building in Gaza after Israel fired missiles in response to Palestinian airstrikes earlier Saturday
A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023
While in Riyadh, Blinken and Prince Faisal stressed the importance of minimizing harm to civilians.
Blinken said: ‘As Israel pursues its legitimate right, to defend its people and to try to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians, and we work together to do just that .
“None of us want to see suffering by civilians on any side, whether it’s in Israel, whether it’s in Gaza, whether it’s anywhere else.”
Prince Faisal said it was essential that the violence between Israel and Hamas end.
He said: ‘We must work together to find a way out of this cycle of violence.
“Without a concerted effort to end this ongoing return to violence, it will always be the civilians who suffer first, it will always be civilians on both sides who end up paying the price.”
While in Abu Dhabi, Blinken visited the Abrahamic Family House, a complex consisting of a church, a mosque and a synagogue representing the three Abrahamic faiths. He drew a tile with the words ‘Light in the dark.’
Blinken planned to return to Saudi Arabia and then stop in Egypt on Sunday. He has already visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on October 14, 2023 in Riyadh.
Blinken puts a tile on the prospective wall at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, October 14, 2023
Blinken signed a tile with the words ‘Light in the Darkness’ displayed at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi
Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said earlier today that Israeli forces were now ‘in formation across the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the center and in the north’ as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with troops.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, and an accompanying video showed him telling them: ‘You ready for the next phase? The next phase is coming.’
The US government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600 among the strip’s population of 2.3 million, and Washington hopes to get many of its nationals out of the way.
So far, 27 Americans have been killed in the ongoing conflict that began the first weekend.
An updated travel advisory for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza was also released earlier today, with US government personnel and their families now fleeing Israel.
In addition to personnel, the government also advised its citizens in Gaza to move south to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be ready for its possible reopening.
However, it remains unclear whether Hamas, which controls Gaza, will allow access to the crossing, or whether any American citizens will be able to leave.