Blinken On Lightning Diplomatic Tour As Gaza War Escalates
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ATHENS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – U.S.Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Greece on Saturday as part of his lightning diplomatic mission to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from escalating into a broader conflict that could potentially impact the world.
Blinken was earlier in Turkey on Saturday in what was his fourth visit to the region in three months amid concerns about comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He spoke with Erdogan following talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that were believed to have been focused on the Israel-Hamas war.
Erdogan has vehemently opposed Israel’s military operation in Gaza and accused the Jewish state of “committing war crimes” against the 2.3 million Palestinians who live there.
After the October 7 massacre of about 1,200 people in Israel, Erdogan still denied that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Instead, he called it a “liberation group” that is “waging a battle to protect its land and people.”
Blinken and Fidan discussed the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as Turkey’s process to ratify Sweden’s membership of the NATO military alliance, Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Soon after, the U.S. top diplomat flew to Greece, where he was meeting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his residence on the Mediterranean island of Crete.
WAR SPREADING?
Mitsotakis and his government have backed U.S. efforts to prevent the Gaza war from spreading and made clear they were willing to assist should the situation deteriorate further.
Blinken’s trip came as fighting escalated in and around Israel. Northern Israel was hit by a barrage of rockets fired from southern Lebanon on early Saturday, officials said.
Iran-backed Hezbollah later claimed responsibility, adding that the attacks were a “preliminary response” to the killing of Hamas’s deputy chief in a Beirut suburb last week.
Israel soon retaliated, striking Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, the military said.
The Israeli military added that its fighter jets had attacked targets in the towns of Aita al-Sha’ab, Yaron, and Ramya, hitting a launch site and military buildings.
Saturday’s fighting added to a sense of urgency for Blinken, whose visits to Turkey and Greece on Saturday will be followed by stops in Israel and the West Bank, as well as Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, according to U.S. officials.
The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned Blinken’s tour, saying it should have been used for Israel’s “aggression.”
WAR CRIMES
He said U.S. support for Israel’s operation in Gaza had “caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people” and that he hoped Blinken had “learned the lessons of the last three months”
The Hamas leader did not mention his group’s October 7 massacre of about 1,200 people, including raped women and children, that prompted Israel’s military to respond.
Israel has blamed Hamas for civilian causalities, saying the “terrorists” are using residents in Gaza as human shields as the Hamas-run health ministry claims more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Despite mounting mistrust, European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in Lebanon that a Palestinian state was the “only way” to achieve peace in the region.
He also warned against an escalation of the conflict in Gaza, saying that “nobody will win” if other countries in the region are dragged in. Iran has been actively supporting groups condemned by Israel as terrorists, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis.
In recent days, Israel’s government also warned that Iran’s actions could lead to World War Three.
Blinken was trying to prevent that from happening on Saturday as he discussed one of the world’s most complex armed conflicts.
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