Israel faces 'challenging moment' but 'opportunities' for integration: Blinken

TEL AVIV: US top diplomat Antony Blinken said Tuesday there were “real opportunities” for Israel’s integration in the Middle East, but it needs to get through a “very challenging moment” as war rages in Gaza.

“I think there actually are real opportunities there, but we have to get through this very challenging moment,” Blinken said after talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the latest leg of a tour that has already taken him to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Blinken will discuss the “way forward” in Israel’s war in Gaza as he meets with Israel leaders including Netanyahu.

Speaking alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog ahead of their meeting on Tuesday morning, Blinken said he would share what he had heard from regional countries during a day of meetings with Israel’s government.

That will include meeting the war cabinet formed in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks by Palestinian Hamas militants that Israel says killed 1,200 people.

Israel launched an air and ground assault on the enclave of Gaza in response that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

“There’s lots to talk about, in particular about the way forward,” said Blinken, who has visited Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as Turkey and Greece, since Saturday.

The U.S. top diplomat has been discussing plans for the future governance of Gaza, which could involve Israel’s Muslim-majority neighbours.

Blinken said on Monday before heading to Israel that regional states wanted integration with Israel but only if plans to normalize relations included a “practical pathway” to a future Palestinian state.

He told his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, on Tuesday that there were opportunities for regional integration and connectivity “but we have to get through this very challenging moment”.