United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel for what are expected to be fractious talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Hamas war as public differences over the conflict have intensified.
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It's the final stop in Blinken's sixth urgent diplomatic mission to the Middle East, in which he's expected to hold meetings with Netanyahu and his War Cabinet aimed at convincing them not to proceed with plans for a large-scale military offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
Video: Blinken in meeting with Netanyahu / Credit: Video credit: Itay Beit On (GPO) / Sound credit: Yehezkel Kandil (GPO)
"A major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we don't support," Blinken said Thursday in Cairo, where he met with top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, Blinken will present Netanyahu with alternatives for dealing with Hamas in Rafah in discussions that will continue next week when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and a separate delegation of senior Israeli officials visit Washington. Netanyahu agreed to send the delegation in a Monday phone call with US President Joe Biden — their first conversation in a month amid the widening divisions.
Israel insists that the Rafah operation is critical to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of the 134 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.
Blinken's brief visit to Israel, which was announced only Wednesday and was not part of his original Mideast itinerary, comes as top intelligence officials from the US, Israel, Egypt and Qatar were to meet in Doha to hammer out details of a proposed ceasefire-for-hostages deal. Qatar, and to a lesser extent Egypt, are the main interlocutors with Hamas, which has thus far rebuffed offers the negotiations have produced.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a United States-sponsored resolution declaring "an immediate and sustained ceasefire" in the Hamas war.
The Israeli mission to the UN has said that although it "doesn't like all aspects of the resolution, it can live with it."
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