WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Jordan on a crisis tour to the Middle East following Hamas’s surprise operation on Israel. The US State Department on Tuesday confirmed the news of Blinken’s trip to Israel.
Blinken will visit Jordan on Middle East Crisis Tour: Officials
In a statement, the US State Department said the US Secretary of State will visit Thursday and Friday to Jordan.
The development comes as US President Joe Biden confirmed that US nationals are among the large number of hostages taken by a Palestinian group Hamas during its surprise operation and said that 14 Americans have also been killed in the fight between Israel and Hamas, Western media reported on Tuesday.
President Biden said at the White House there were “at least fourteen US nationals killed” and “we now know that Americans are among those being held by Hamas.”
The death toll from the Israeli bombings on civilian areas of Gaza has raised to 770, local media reported on Tuesday. Palestinian Health Ministry said that more than 4,000 Palestinians have been injured as a result of the Israeli bombardment on Gaza after Hamas Operation against Israel early Saturday to regain its occupied areas.
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In a previous statement issued by the Health Ministry, it was heartbreaking to note that among the casualties, at least 143 children and 105 women had lost their lives in these attacks on Gaza.
Over these past three days, the Gaza Strip has witnessed a devastating and relentless barrage of Israeli airstrikes and ground operations, resulting in a substantial loss of life and extensive destruction throughout residential areas.
Earlier today, Hamas had warned to kill the Israel hostages if Israel continued attacking the civilian population without prior warning.
On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticized Israel’s blockade of Gaza, adding cutting off water and electricity is against the Palestinian people’ human rights.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Tuesday, President Erdogan criticized Washington’s plans to provide an aircraft carrier to the region, adding the deployment of aircraft could lead to “massacres.” He also spoke over the crisis with Russian President Putin.
