Tour of the Middle East. What is Blinken trying to achieve?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken came to Israel to condemn the Hamas attack on the country and express condolences to the victims of the attacks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt over the course of several days. That is, all the key countries of the Middle East region, in which a new war is breaking out between Israel and Hamas. In Israel, Blinken, along with promises of all support, also called on the authorities to take all possible measures to avoid causing harm to civilians living in the Gaza Strip. “What matters is how Israel does it (defends its territory). We, as democracies, differ from terrorists in that we strive for different standards of warfare… That is why it is so important to take all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians,” the Secretary of State said. On the morning of October 13, the Israel Defense Forces issued a call for Gazans to evacuate to the southern part of the strip within 24 hours. About 2.3 million people live in the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli authorities’ call for evacuation concerns more than 1.1 million. It is almost impossible to evacuate such a number of people. Because Gaza’s border with Egypt remains closed on the Egyptian side (as does the border with Israel), civilians are trapped. Therefore, one of the directions of American diplomacy in recent days has been an attempt to convince the Egyptian authorities to open the border to refugees. As a result, according to media reports, Blinken managed to convince Cairo to open one checkpoint with the Gaza Strip. After the Hamas attack on Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that his main task now is to prevent new participants from being drawn into the conflict. This also applies to the administration of the West Bank, the second Palestinian territory, where about three million people live. This territory could become a second front. Blinken and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas first discussed the Hamas attack by phone immediately after the Oct. 7 attack. The Abbas administration has been in conflict with Hamas since 2007. During that conversation, the Secretary of State called on his interlocutor to condemn the actions of terrorists and ensure stability in the West Bank. However, Abbas never did. On Friday, October 13, Blinken met with Abbas in Amman, Jordan. Almost nothing is known about the content of these negotiations. After the Hamas attack, American diplomats are negotiating with Arab partners through various channels. They call on those who maintain relations with Hamas to influence the movement: to convince them to stop the attacks and release the hostages. Those in contact with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah or Iran are asked not to be drawn into the conflict. Along with Blinken’s efforts, active negotiations are also taking place in the camp of Israel’s opponents. Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Lebanese leaders and Hezbollah representatives. Abdollahian plans to visit Syria next.