US State Secretary Antony Blinken referred to his meetings with the regional leaders during a press briefing in Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve just finished our third day of a trip that thus far has taken us from Türkiye to Greece to Jordan to Qatar to the United Arab Emirates to here in Saudi Arabia. Everywhere I went, I found leaders who are determined to prevent the conflict that we’re facing now from spreading, doing everything possible to deter escalation, to prevent a widening of the conflict. We also talked about the future for this region, and I think there’s broad agreement on a few basic objectives: first, that Israel and Israelis should be able to live in peace and security, free from the fear of terrorist attacks or aggression from any of their neighbors; second, that the West Bank and Gaza should be united under Palestinian-led governance; third, the future of the region needs to be one of integration, not division and not conflict; and fourth, for that to happen, we need to see the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Now, no one I talked to thinks any of this will be easy. All recognize the hurdles, and no one thinks that anything will happen overnight. But we agreed to work together and to coordinate our efforts to help Gaza stabilize and recover, to chart a political path forward for the Palestinians, and to work toward long-term peace, security, and stability in the region as a whole.
I also found across the board that the countries we visited, the leaders we spend time with, are prepared to make the necessary commitments, to make the hard decisions to advance all of these objectives, to advance this vision for the region.
We’re heading now to Israel, where I’ll have an opportunity to share with Israeli leaders everything I’ve heard thus far on this trip, and also to talk to them about the future direction of their military campaign in Gaza. I will press on the absolute imperative to do more to protect civilians and to do more to make sure that humanitarian assistance is getting into the hands of those who need it. We’ll also, of course, focus on our relentless efforts to bring back the hostages – Americans, Israelis, and others”, Blinken said.
