Top United States diplomat Antony Blinken will head to the Middle East, the Department of State has announced, amid almost daily deadly Israeli raids against Palestinians and growing tensions around holy sites in Jerusalem.
The Department of State said on Thursday that Blinken will discuss a “range of global and regional priorities” – including the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – during a three-day visit to Egypt, Israel and the occupied West Bank starting on Sunday.
It will be the US secretary of state’s first trip to Israel since the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office late last year. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also visited Israel and the occupied West Bank earlier this month.
“With both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the Secretary will underscore the urgent need for the parties to take steps to deescalate tensions in order to put an end to the cycle of violence that has claimed too many innocent lives,” the Department of State said on Thursday.
“He also will discuss the importance of upholding the historic status quo the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in words and in actions.”
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians spiked earlier this month after ultranationalist Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in a move condemned by Palestinian and Arab leaders as a “provocation”.
The historic status quo maintains that neighbouring Jordan has custodianship over the Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third holiest site.
Since coming to power, Netanyahu’s government has openly said that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank is its top priority.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Since then, successive Israeli governments have illegally built settlements to house Israelis in the occupied land that the Palestinian Authority seeks as a home to its future state along with the Gaza Strip.
The Department of State said Blinken will discuss “the importance of a two-state solution” with top Israeli and Palestinian officials during his visit.
On Thursday, days before Blinken’s trip, Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians during a large-scale raid in the West Bank.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel described the Israeli attack, which claimed an elderly woman, as a “counterterrorism operation”, echoing Israel’s rhetoric.
“We recognize the very real security challenges facing Israel and the Palestinian Authority and condemn terrorist groups planning and carrying out attacks against innocent Palestinian civilians,” Patel told reporters. “We also regret the loss of innocent lives and injuries to civilians and are deeply concerned by the escalating cycle of violence in the West Bank.”