US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia, the first stop on a trip to the Middle East that serves to promote a truce between Israel and Hamas and the entry of more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Blinken, who will travel to Jordan and Israel, will meet in Riyadh with several of his counterparts from the Gulf states and Europe to discuss plans to rebuild the Gaza Strip after the war, a State Department official said.
These plans could include financing the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory, which has been transformed into a field of rubble by nearly seven months of bombing and fighting and where most of the inhabitants have been forced to flee, or supporting the creation of new government structures for when the war will be over.
Blinken’s visit comes during a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Saudi capital. Israel is not represented at this meeting and truce negotiations – mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt – are taking place elsewhere in Cairo. But the event is intended to be “an opportunity for structured discussions” with “key actors”, as the president of the Forum Borge Brende underlined.
Since the war began, Saudi Arabia has been working with other countries to try to end the conflict that threatens to engulf the region and derail its ambitious economic reform program, known as Vision 2030.
The Gulf monarchy, the world’s largest oil exporter and heavyweight in the Arab world, is also discussing a possible normalization agreement with Israel, accompanied by a strengthening of the alliance with Washington.
This normalization would have a huge impact, as the Saudi kingdom is the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites. But the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7 put an end to this prospect.
The United States has sought to support a more moderate position on the part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has always been against the creation of a Palestinian state.
The U.S. State Department said Antony Blinken “will discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that allows for the release of the hostages.” Furthermore, according to the same source, he will “underline the importance of preventing a regional extension” of the war.
Along with Egypt and Qatar, the United States has been trying for months to broker a new truce between Israel and Hamas.
