United States: The US Department of State has announced that the country’s diplomat, Mr. Antony Blinken, will head to the Middle East amid almost daily fatal Israeli raids against Palestinians and growing tensions around holy sites in Jerusalem.

Announcing Blinken’s visit, the department spokesman Mr. Ned Price noted that the diplomat will discuss the importance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other issues, in meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mr. Mahmoud Abbas.

The department stated that Mr. Blinken will discuss a “range of global and regional priorities,”  including the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, during a three-day visit to Egypt, Israel, and the occupied West Bank.

“With both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the secretary will underscore the urgent need for the parties to take steps to deescalate tensions in order to put an end to the cycle of violence that has claimed too many innocent lives,” the department remarked in the statement.

“He also will discuss the importance of upholding the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in words and in actions,” the statement added.

Mr. Blinken’s visit will be the US secretary of state’s first trip to Israel since the far-right government of Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu took office late in 2022.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians spiked earlier in January 2022 after Israeli national security minister Mr. Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in a move that was widely condemned by Palestinian and Arab leaders as a “provocation.”

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