The US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced this, he also said Israel and Washington had agreed to develop a plan for aid to Gaza. Blinken spoke after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the defence ministry for nearly eight hours. This was the US diplomat’s second visit since the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Blinken said that the United States also secured assurances from Israel on working to bring foreign assistance into the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip as Israel prepares a ground offensive against the Hamas-ruled territory.
The US President will be discussing with Israel the military operations being conducted and how to minimise civilian casualties. He will also discuss humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza in a way that will not benefit Hamas. Washington is also trying to rally Arab states to help avert a wider regional war after Iran pledged preemptive action from the resistance front of its allies which include the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
After visiting Israel, Biden is expected to travel to Jordan to meet King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority which is a rival of Hamas and has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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