By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL-In a briefing to the press on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he came to Egypt with four main goals. They include making it clear that the U.S. stands behind Israel, preventing a wider spread conflict, getting hostages released especially American citizens and addressing the Gaza humanitarian crisis. Though Blinken made it clear that the U.S. will always defend Israel, he cautioned: “It needs to do it in a way that affirms the shared values that we have for human life, human dignity, taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.” He added that Israel has the right and the obligationto defend itself against attacks from Hamas. Blinken said he and his team visited six countries in the Middle East that included Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and currently Egypt. Blinken explained the purpose of visiting the leaders of these countries was to listen to their perspectives on the crisis and to seek avenues of cooperation to deal with the myriad of challenges that have arisen. All the leaders told Blinken that their shared view is do everything possible to avoid a widerspread conflict, to protect innocent lives and to get assistance to a multitude of Palestinians in need in Gaza.
Blinken said that he made it very clear that it “must not be business as usual with Hamas going forward.” He added that “Civilians should not have to suffer for Hamas’s atrocities.” Blinken emphasized that the U.S. is “actively engaged” with countries in the region, the U.N., with Israel to ensure that civilians can be protected while getting food, water and medicine. On that front, on Sunday, he said that President Biden appointed a highly experienced, senior diplomat Ambassador David Satterfield to lead the humanitarian efforts. Blinken noted that Satterfield previously served as an ambassador to Lebanon and Turkiye. On Monday, Blinken said that Satterfield will work with everyone to coordinate humanitarian efforts to make sure people can get out of Gaza in a timely manner and the assistance they need. Blinken emphasized that though it’s “a difficult and a challenging time” there is “a determination that I’ve heard across the board to work through it, to get through it, and to do that together.”
