Blinken is back in the Middle East this week. He has his work cut out for him

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken connected Monday begins his seventh diplomatic ngo to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas warfare began much than six months ago. He has his enactment chopped retired for him.

The warfare has crushed connected since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attacks connected Israel with small extremity successful sight: much than 34,000 Palestinians person been killed, hundreds of thousands much are displaced and a humanitarian situation successful Gaza is worsening.

The struggle has fueled wide protests astir the satellite that person dispersed to American assemblage campuses. U.S. enactment for Israel, peculiarly arms transfers, has travel nether peculiar criticism, thing the medication is keenly alert poses imaginable problems for President Joe Biden successful an election year.

Just up of Blinken's sojourn — which includes a small much than a time successful Saudi Arabia earlier stops successful Jordan and Israel connected Tuesday and Wednesday — Biden spoke by telephone Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blinken's travel comes amid renewed concerns astir the struggle spreading successful the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi rapprochement efficaciously connected clasp arsenic Israel refuses to see 1 of the Saudis' main conditions for normalized relations: the instauration of a Palestinian state.

Here is simply a look astatine the main issues Blinken volition tackle:

The Biden medication has been moving intimately with Egypt and Qatar for months to negociate a woody betwixt Israel and Hamas for the merchandise of Israeli hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 attacks that launched the warfare successful speech for a impermanent but extendable ceasefire successful Gaza and the merchandise of Palestinian prisoners jailed successful Israel. Those negotiations, portion ongoing, person yet to carnivore fruit.

Meanwhile, the Biden medication has been informing Israel against a large subject cognition connected the confederate Gaza metropolis of Rafah, wherever much than a cardinal Palestinians person fled to flight warring further north. Israel has not yet launched specified an offensive, but Netanyahu has repeatedly said that 1 volition instrumentality place, asserting that it is the lone mode to hitch retired Hamas.

Both topics were discussed during the Biden-Netanyahu telephone telephone connected Sunday, according to the White House and U.S. officials.

Blinken besides volition talk to those issues successful talks with Arab and European overseas ministers gathered successful Riyadh for a gathering of the World Economic Forum. He'll besides sermon not allowing the Israel-Hamas struggle to engulf the region, which volition beryllium a absorption of a abstracted gathering helium volition person successful Riyadh with his counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The information of conflagration was underscored this period erstwhile a suspected Israeli onslaught connected an Iranian consular gathering successful Syria prompted an unprecedented nonstop rocket and drone effect by Iran against Israel. An evident retaliatory Israeli onslaught connected Iran followed.

Although the tit-for-tat rhythm appears to person ended for now, heavy concerns stay that Iran oregon its proxies successful Iraq, Lebanon, Syria oregon Yemen could enactment successful specified a mode arsenic to provoke a greater effect from Israel oregon that Israel mightiness instrumentality enactment that Iran feels it indispensable retaliate for.

The Biden medication besides has been pushing Israel to further grow the scope and standard of humanitarian assistance convoys bringing food, medicine, h2o into the territory.

In Jordan and Israel, Blinken volition absorption mostly connected specified aid, gathering with assorted alleviation organizations arsenic good arsenic officials successful some countries to underscore the urgent request for much assistance. In Israel, those discussions volition beryllium accompanied by talks connected Israel’s subject plans, a State Department authoritative said.

Blinken is expected to stress the value of sharply boosting the travel of assistance and sustaining the increase.

While deliveries person increased, they are inactive not astatine levels needed to debar what the U.N. says is simply a looming famine successful Gaza. The U.S. besides is gathering a pier adjacent Gaza City done which assistance shipped from Cyprus tin beryllium sent for organisation to Palestinian civilians.

Officials successful the U.S. and Cyprus accidental the pier is expected to beryllium completed soon, but determination are inactive large concerns astir information for the installation and the assistance workers who volition beryllium bringing supplies from the larboard to communities.

Scores of alleviation workers person been killed since the struggle began, and a deadly Israeli onslaught connected a World Central Kitchen assistance convoy successful Gaza this period lone highlighted the dangers and difficulties of protecting them. Israel has said the onslaught was a mistake and has disciplined officials involved.

World Central Kitchen says it would resume operations successful Gaza connected Monday aft a four-week suspension.

In Saudi Arabia, a State Department authoritative said Blinken would beryllium focused chiefly connected plans for a post-conflict Gaza successful abstracted meetings with Arab and European overseas ministers.

The U.S. has been moving with a radical of 5 Arab nations — the alleged “Quint” of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — connected readying for reconstruction and governance of the territory erstwhile the warfare ends. After archetypal reluctance successful the aboriginal stages of the warfare to perpetrate to participating successful specified planning, the Arabs successful January agreed to bash so, though galore of their circumstantial contributions to the effort person not been wholly determined yet and volition not apt beryllium acceptable astatine this meeting, the authoritative said.

Later, Blinken and those aforesaid Arab ministers on with respective from Europe volition conscionable jointly to spell implicit their ideas and archer the Europeans that determination is simply a relation for them — some financially and with circumstantial expertise — to play successful Gaza’s post-conflict future, according to the authoritative who spoke to reporters connected information of anonymity to preview Blinken’s discussions.

He volition person abstracted meetings with Saudi officials, expected to see the country’s de facto person Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, astir the U.S.-Saudi information of a connection for the normalization of relations betwixt Saudi Arabia and Israel and however that tin beryllium merged yet with the broader program for Gaza. Prior to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks successful Israel, U.S. officials believed they were adjacent to securing an agreement.

After the warfare began, those relations became tied to Israel’s acceptance of an autarkic Palestinian state.

Netanyahu and his far-right authorities person refused to see it but that hasn’t stopped Blinken oregon different officials from repeating their statement that the futures of Gaza, Palestinians overall, Israel’s semipermanent information and determination stableness each beryllium connected one.

Blinken volition talk with the Saudis and the different Arabs astir reaching “lasting bid and information successful the region, including done a pathway to an autarkic Palestinian authorities with information guarantees for Israel,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.