Riyadh: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials on Friday, landed at Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Airport on Monday with high hopes of brokering a deal on post-Gaza war governance. Shortly after landing in the Arab state, Blinken met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal Bin Farhan al Saud. However, the details of the meetings are yet to be disclosed.
Blinken’s trip comes amid renewed concerns about the conflict spreading in the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi rapprochement effectively on hold as Israel refuses to consider one of the Saudis’ main conditions for normalized relations: the creation of a Palestinian state.
According to news agency Reuters, the top Biden official will meet his Arab partners and counterparts to discuss post-war Gaza. Besides, his visit will focus on pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take concrete and tangible steps. According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu is planning a massive raid on the Rafah region.
VIDEO: Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia
It is worth mentioning that the US has been working with a group of five Arab nations — the so-called “Quint” of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — on planning for reconstruction and governance of the territory once the war ends. After initial reluctance in the early stages of the war to commit to participating in such planning, the Arabs in January agreed to do so, although many of their specific contributions to the effort have not been completely determined yet and will not likely be set at this meeting, the official said.
Later, Blinken and those same Arab ministers along with several from Europe will meet jointly to go over their ideas and tell the Europeans that there is a role for them — both financially and with specific expertise — to play in Gaza’s post-conflict future, according to the official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to preview Blinken’s discussions.
Biden warns Netanyahu
Earlier on Sunday, US President Joe Biden spoke to Netanyahu and warned of taking any action on the Rafah crossing. Biden reiterated his firm stance on the war-torn region and added he would not allow the Israeli Defence Forces to take any steps against the region without any credible information about the hideouts of the Hamas militants. Also, Biden told the Israeli Prime Minister to take extra humanitarian precautions before any aggression.
(With inputs from agency)
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