22 March 2024•Update: 22 March 2024
WASHINGTON
During a meeting in Tel Aviv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly expressed concerns to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet regarding Israel's security and global standing, warning of potential peril if a coherent plan for Gaza is lacking.
According to Axios news website, which cited a source familiar with the meeting, Blinken warned Israeli leaders about the importance of a clear strategy for Gaza's post-war scenario, saying that they need a "coherent plan, or either you're going to be stuck in Gaza".
"You might not realize it until it's too late," Blinken was quoted as saying.
"The Secretary of State said that on the current path, Hamas will stay in control in Gaza or there will be anarchy, which will just create the conditions for more terrorism," it reported.
"We will have our hands full for decades," Netanyahu reportedly said in response.
Neither State Department nor Netanyahu's office immediately responded to requests for comment about the meeting in Tel Aviv.
Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday from Egypt on the third leg of his sixth Middle East tour since Oct. 7.
The visit is dominated by efforts to reach an agreement on a hostage swap deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, to establish a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, and discuss the risks of Israeli army's ground assault in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
A new round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas is underway in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Egypt and with the participation of the US, to reach a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
