U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday for a short visit. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers in the unity cabinet and President Issac Herzog.
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Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, thanked his American counterpart for the support of the administration and said Israelis would never forget the U.S. support at this time of crisis. "We are not going anywhere," Blinken told Cohen upon landing.
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Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken upon his arrival in Israel on Thursday
(Photo: Foreign Ministry)
Blinken is expected to travel to Egypt after he completes his visit to Israel, and is also expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah.
Since the start of the war, American support had been steadfast not only in the public statements of U.S. President Joe Biden but from nearly all members of Congress A senior Israeli official said visits of more American dignitaries are expected in the coming days.
The Administration is watching the humanitarian crisis emerging in Gaza and is raising the need to evacuate American Palestinians, with Israel, although no limitations on Israeli attacks have been raised.
Under international law, Israel is bound to ensure the supply of water and medicine and other humanitarian aid to Gaza, but electric power in the strip is down after power stations were destroyed, by Hamas fire failing to breach the area of the Strip. In past rounds of fighting, Egypt supplied electricity to Gaza but that was suspended after the ruling Hamas, neglected to pay the bills.
Most of the water to Gaza residents comes from local desalinization facilities and only a small amount was delivered by Israel which is monitoring the humanitarian situation.