US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday (October 12) as part of his two-day Middle East tour to convey Washington's support for Israel after the attacks of Palestinian Hamas militants, as well as to prevent the conflict from spilling over.
VOA reported that Blinken would try to help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including some Americans, and advance talks with Israelis and Egyptians on providing a safe passage of Gaza civilians out of the enclave before a possible Israeli ground invasion.
The total death toll of the war between Israel and Hamas has increased to over 2,600, including 25 Americans, up from yesterday's tally of 22, Blinken added.
Blinken Tells Israeli PM Netanyahu of US Continued Support
Upon landing in Tel Aviv, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a military facility on Thursday, Reuters reported.
In a public conversation, Blinken urged the prime minister - who has since formed an emergency war cabinet - to exercise some form of restraint in its retaliation and take every possible precaution to protect civilian life.
At the same time, he also assured Netanyahu that the US would continue its support for Israel.
"You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself," he said. "But as long as America exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side."
He also shared his personal perspective about last weekend's onslaught, recounting how his grandfather fled pogroms in Russia and his stepfather survived Nazi concentration camps.
Blinken has also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
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Blinken Plans to Visit Jordan to Keep Civilians Out of Fighting
After his trip to Israel, Blinken would head to Jordan, where he would meet both King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Blinken's trip came after Hamas conducted a coordinated attack on October 7 across southern Israel, which Israelis and foreign observers reckoned as the country's version of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor combined, as well as the bloodiest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
In response, Israeli defense officials have put Gaza under siege, depriving 2.3 million civilians of food, water, fuel, and other essential supplies.
A US State Department official told reporters on the condition of anonymity that Washington was working to advance talks on providing a safe passage to civilians, including Americans in Gaza.
"There's a community of something in the order of 500 to 600 Palestinian Americans, more or less, resident in Gaza. Some of them want to leave...and we are working to organize safe passage," the official said, adding that the US was talking "intensively" with Israeli and Egyptian governments to help arrange such.
The official also stated that Blinken's other priority was to convey a message of deterrence to Iran and any other Iran-backed groups to avoid getting involved in the conflict.
"We're very intent on demonstrating through this visit and through the onward visits that we're committed to keeping other parties out of this conflict," the official added.
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