Antony Blinken Set To Visit Israel After Violent Outbreak

Antony Blinken
Antony Blinken

A surge of fatal violence in the West Bank and Israel has increased the urgency of Antony Blinken’s, the US State Secretary, trip to Ramallah and Jerusalem the following week. Since this is going to be the elite United States diplomat’s first trip to Israel after the induction of the new government in Israel, which includes ultra-religious and ultra-nationalist parties, gained office, his visit, which will also include a brief time in Egypt, was already viewed as tricky. Now, Blinken is prepared to deal with a situation that is swiftly intensifying and showing no indications of abating.

A Bloody Backdrop To Antony Blinken’s Visit

On Thursday, forces from Israeli raided a camp for refugees in Jenin, a city on the West Bank, where they killed 9 Palestinians and injured a number of others. As per reports from the CNN archives, that day was the worst for Palestinians living in the West Bank in more than a year when another Palestinian citizen was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the village of al-Ram.

In response to the assault on Jenin, the Authorities in Palestine declared that it would immediately stop coordinating security with Israel. Despite US officials’ assurances that the periods of violence won’t disrupt Antony Blinken’s tour, there has been some conflict in recent days.

On Friday, The White House denounced the “heinous terror attack” involving the synagogue. On Thursday, officials from the State Department expressed concern regarding the security environment in the wake of the raid on Jenin. 

The administration of Biden has avoided publicly denouncing the new Israeli government, which Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, is heading and includes contentious far-right government ministers, by being careful with its terminology.