Blinken sends envoy to Mideast, urges Israel to spare civilians
- 3 years ago
WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a US envoy would travel to the Middle East to seek to calm tensions as he implored Israel to avoid civilian deaths.
Hady Amr, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs, was leaving Wednesday and will meet both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, US officials said.
"He will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence," Blinken told reporters.
The top diplomat, in a call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, again pushed for both sides to step back from the fighting.
Blinken "reiterated his call on all parties to de-escalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence," said a State Department statement.
News of that conversation emerged shortly after the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had called his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, and backed Israel's "legitimate right to defend itself and its people" while also urging steps to restore calm."
Source: CNA
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