U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged on a Middle East mission that Washington would rally support to rebuild Gaza as part of efforts to bolster a ceasefire between its Hamas Islamist rulers and Israel.
Blinken however made it clear that the United States would ensure that Hamas, which it regards as a terrorist organization, did not benefit from the humanitarian aid.
Blinken started his regional visit in Jerusalem, where he held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who alongside the top U.S. diplomat at his side, threatened a very powerful response if Hamas renewed cross-border rocket strikes.
The truce, brokered by Egypt and coordinated with the United States, began on Friday after 11 days of the worst fighting between Palestinian militants and Israel in years. Now in its fifth day, it has been holding.
Blinen said the United States, would work to rally international support around that effort and make its own “significant contributions,” to be announced later in the day.
Blinken will be in the region through Thursday, and will also travel to Egypt and Jordan. In tandem with his visit, Israeli authorities allowed fuel, medicine and food earmarked for Gaza’s private sector to enter the territory for the first time since the hostilities began on May 10.
Blinken, who said he hoped to rebuild relationships with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority, was due to meet Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank later in the day.
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