United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to the Middle East amid a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinian factions in Gaza, but tensions have remained high in occupied East Jerusalem after Israeli police escorted Jewish settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday.
Blinken will depart on Monday for a short visit to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan and Egypt for what will be the administration of President Joe Biden’s highest level in-person meeting on the most recent escalation, which began on May 10 and lasted for 11 days.
At least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
At least 12 Israelis, including two children, were killed by rockets fired from Gaza before the ceasefire was reached on Friday.
Health authorities in the occupied West Bank have separately confirmed 27 killed in that region, bringing the total to 275 across all Palestinian territories.
“At the request of President Biden, I am traveling to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman to meet with the parties to support their efforts to solidify a ceasefire,” the secretary of state said in a tweet on Monday.
Credit: aljazeera.com
The post U.S. Secretary of State heads to Middle East amid Gaza ceasefire appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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