Blinken Arrives in Jordan to Discuss Aid for Gaza
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Jordan on Tuesday for his second stop on a Middle East tour to meet with top officials to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, which is roiling the region and the political landscape of the United States.
The Biden administration is trying to increase pressure on Hamas to accept a deal that would result in a temporary cease-fire in the war in Gaza and the release of some of the hostages held there.
Mr. Blinken discussed the proposed deal at meetings in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He plans to do the same in Jordan on Tuesday and in Israel on Wednesday, according to State Department officials.
On his seventh trip to the Middle East since the war began last October, Mr. Blinken and his aides have been trying to work on a range of issues, including Israel’s continuing need for U.S. weapons, the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a plan for a political solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr. Blinken will make humanitarian aid for Gaza a focus of his visit in Jordan and later in Israel. He plans to meet with officials involved in aid efforts while in Jordan, according to a State Department official who discussed elements of the trip with reporters traveling on the plane with Mr. Blinken. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details were not disclosed in the official trip statement issued by the State Department.
In talks with Jordanian officials, Mr. Blinken is also expected to address issues around the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration has called for a more technocratic Palestinian Authority, which is considered by many Palestinians to be authoritarian and corrupt, in the hopes that it could help govern postwar Gaza — an idea that Israel’s government opposes. Jordanian officials have close ties with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the authority, and other prominent Palestinians in the organization.
