Arab envoys clash with Blinken over war on Gaza cease-fire: Bloomberg
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While Antony Blinken focuses on convincing Arab allies of "humanitarian pauses" , they demanded an immediate ceasefire.
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Antony Blinken, from right, Ayman Safadi, and Sameh Shoukry hold a press conference in Amman on November 4, 2023. (AFP)
During Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the Middle East, he brought up the idea of "humanitarian pauses" in the war on Gaza while important Arab US allies openly demanded an immediate cease-fire, according to Bloomberg.
The office of Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced Friday that it will be convening a conference for Arab foreign ministers Saturday in Amman with Blinken on the war on Gaza.
In addition to the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein al-Sheikh, the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt are attending the summit.
Blinken said on Thursday that he would push "Israel" to take "concrete steps" to reduce harm to people in Gaza.
Blinken told reporters, "We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women, and children in Gaza," claiming that this was something the US was committed to doing.
He expressed pain over the killings of whom he called innocent Palestinians, yet only after he reiterated "Israel's" right to "defend itself", which means continued indiscriminate bombing.
US to pressure 'Israel' into a 'humanitarian pause' in Gaza: NYT
In a report, The New York Times (NYT) stated that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to "pressure the Israeli government to agree to a humanitarian pause in Gaza to allow for captives to be released safely and for humanitarian aid to be distributed," citing White House officials.
A political commentator on the Israeli Kan channel, Gili Cohen, said Netanyahu is studying the American request, explaining that “this is a mission: what will the second party grant, in what reality, and in what framework?"
She added, "A political source told us that Israel might agree to stop the attacks, as he described it, for several hours."
For his part, Channel 12’s political affairs correspondent, Yaron Avraham, said the Americans feel that the Israeli plan is “vague and not adequately evaluated,” and they fear this stage.
Avraham pointed out that there is currently no talk of a humanitarian pause, explaining that “an Israeli source confirmed to us, and I say this with caution, that it seems that discussions will begin tomorrow with Blinken’s arrival about pauses, a short truce..."
During a Minnesota event on Thursday, US President Joe Biden asked for a "pause" in the aggression, albeit only after a request from a Rabbi in his audience.
