Anthony Blinken begins tour of Middle East as threat of regional escalation rises

He said that the United States continues to support a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict and is opposed to any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

On Thursday, the State Department announced that Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, and Derek Chollet, a counselor of the department, are traveling to Israel and Jordan before joining Blinken for meetings in the region.

Blinken’s visit comes as Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Yemen have threatened a regional escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, said on Friday that there would “undoubtedly” be a battlefield response to the killing of Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut on January 2.

Hamas has claimed that al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike.

The United States and 13 countries warned the Yemen-based Houthis this week against further attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Since November, the Houthis have carried out attacks that have almost entirely diverted commercial traffic around the strategically vital waterway.

Just hours after the US-led warning, the Houthis launched an attack against US Navy ships and commercial vessels using an “unmanned surface vessel.” The latter detonated a couple of miles away from the ships, the Associated Press reported.