Blinken can claim one win after Mideast trip, but also plenty of losses
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived back in the U.S. just as Israel was striking Iran — its anticipated retaliation for a massive missile strike earlier this month.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived back in the U.S. just as Israel was striking Iran — its anticipated retaliation for a massive missile strike earlier this month.
There was obvious relief among State Department officials as they heard the initial reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had bent to Blinken’s urging to strike military targets, not nuclear sites or energy fields. Washington had pressed its ally in the hopes of ending the cycle of attacks and avoiding escalation into a wider war.
But this one albeit significant victory came as time was running out for America’s top diplomat to achieve the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and hostage release that have eluded him for 13 months.
While a proposal for an initial two-day truce and the release of four hostages in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners, outlined publicly by Egypt, is now on the table, an agreement and thus an end to the devastating war in Gaza and Israel’s more recent incursion into Lebanon show no signs of letting up.
It has been a year of almost nonstop travel for Blinken involving 11 trips to the Middle East since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and 250 taken hostage.
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