Israel-Hamas War: Blinken’s Efforts To Secure A Pause Still ‘A Work In Progress’

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has concluded his Middle East tour and is currently in Japan for a conference of G7 foreign ministers, where he will explain on Washington’s response to the one-month-old Israel-Hamas conflict.

On Monday, he confessed that his efforts to achieve a protracted humanitarian pause and greater limitation in Israel’s attack on Gaza were still “in progress.” The talks in Ankara marked the end of a visit that included stops in Jerusalem, Amman, Ramallah in the West Bank, and Baghdad.

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, did not meet with Blinken after withdrawing its ambassador from Israel on Saturday, a decision praised by the Palestinian Authority. Erdogan stated, “Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to.”

Turkey is constructing a cancer hospital in the Palestinian enclave, which has been frequently targeted by Israeli forces. Turkey and Egypt have agreed to send roughly 1,000 of these patients and other injured civilians to Turkey for treatment, and preparations are thought to be underway.

Over four days of talks, the US secretary of state was unable to persuade Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to support a humanitarian halt, while talks on hostages stagnated over the sequencing and length of the talks.