US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday he had arrived in Tel Aviv on a state visit to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip as well as support Israel’s right to defend itself.
In October, Blinken also paid an official visit to Israel in an effort to assist in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Returned to Israel for meetings with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Israeli] President [Isaac Herzog], and other government leaders.
“We wil discuss Israel’s right to defend itself and our work to get humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” Blinken wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The US State Department said on Wednesday that Blinken would pay official visits to a number of countries, including Israel, from November 2–10.
On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighbouring Israeli communities.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.
On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion inside the Gaza Strip to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue the hostages.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of around 1,400 people in Israel and over 9,000 in the Gaza Strip.
