Analysis: Blinken appears more supportive on his latest trip to Israel – a trip that has changed very little
By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent
After a day meeting with Israeli leaders, the US secretary of state was notably more supportive for Israel than he had been in news conferences in recent days when he seemed to push more robustly against Israeli actions and inaction.
He reiterated his backing for Israel’s mission to eliminate Hamas but made no call for a lower tempo of fighting as the White House has previously done.
Instead Israel has said it will raise the intensity of its operations in Khan Younis as it desperately seeks elusive Hamas leaders.
Blinken only made passing reference to the high number of civilian deaths in Israel.
Although directly asked, he avoided criticising the Israeli finance minister for his recent description of Gazans as Nazis, but said instead that the Palestinian Authority must reform.
There was no caution against Israel escalating tensions in the north, rather acknowledgement that displaced Israeli citizens must be allowed to return home.
And he gave little hope to hostage families desperately wanting to hear progress on negotiations.
He meets Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in Ramallah tomorrow and then finally to Cairo to end an extensive tour of the region.
Diplomacy often requires cards to be kept close and it might be that the US has calculated that further public pressure on Israel could be counterproductive, but on today’s evidence his trip has changed little and US power to influence the course of events remains in question.
