Blinken heads back to Middle East to support Israel but 'seeks restraint'

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken headed on his second crisis trip to the Middle East on Thursday as he renews support for Israel but also seeks subtly to encourage its ally to limit civilian deaths that have outraged much of the world.

Blinken will spend the day Friday in Israel, his fourth visit since the 7 October Hamas assault, including a trip to accompany President Joe Biden, and also head to Jordan and potentially other stops before a previously scheduled trip to Asia.

The United States is the foremost supporter of Israel and has promised to ramp up military assistance as Israel wages a brutal military campaign against Hamas, even as a rising number of US allies accuse it of a disproportionate response.

Biden on Wednesday said he supported a humanitarian "pause" in the Gaza conflict, but the United States remains opposed to calls for a ceasefire, saying that Hamas has no intention of holding fire.

In a step long awaited by the Biden administration, the first US citizens were able to leave Gaza on Wednesday after painstaking diplomacy, including a visit by Blinken to Qatar, which has relations with Hamas, to open the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt.

Gaza updates:
👉 Heavy clashes take place around Gaza City
👉 Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli position using drones
👉 Israel has turned Gaza into a graveyard for children
👉 Israeli forces raid Al-Maqasid Hospital in Jerusalem
🔴 Live coverage: https://t.co/GF7N6MW6oH

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 2, 2023

Speaking at the top of a speech Wednesday in Minnesota devoted to domestic issues, Biden said his administration is "working nonstop to get Americans out of Gaza as soon as safely as possible."

"I want to thank our partners in the region and particularly Qatar who've worked so closely with us to support negotiations to facilitate the departure of these citizens," Biden said.

Blinken previously said 400 US citizens and 600 of their family members were seeking to leave the Gaza Strip.

Blinken is expected to meet Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had rocky relations with Biden before the war over his hard-right policies.

The talks in Israel are also expected to start discussions on what comes next after the war.

More than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 3,760 children, in Israel's brutal bombing of Gaza, while 1,400 Israelis were killed in Hamas's 7 October attacks.

Jordan, which was the second Arab nation to make peace with Israel, has withdrawn its ambassador to protest the "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe" caused by the "ongoing Israeli war."

Asked about Jordan's move ahead of Blinken's visit, Miller spoke of the United States' shared concerns on the "dire humanitarian situation in Gaza" but added that "steps to reduce diplomatic channels aren't productive to our long-term shared goals" in resolving the crisis.