OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken
began a Middle East visit in Israel on Tuesday, seeking to bolster its
ceasefire with Gaza's ruling group Hamas and help speed humanitarian aid to the
devastated Palestinian enclave.
اضافة اعلان
In tandem with Blinken's mission, Israeli authorities said
they were allowing fuel, medicine and food earmarked for Gaza's private sector
to enter the territory for the first time since 11 days of cross-border
hostilities started on May 10.
Blinken was also due to visit Ramallah in the occupied West
Bank, Cairo and Amman, with the United States harboring "every hope and
expectation" the ceasefire would continue to hold, a senior State
Department official said.
"Our primary focus is on maintaining the ceasefire,
getting the assistance to the people who need it," said the official, who
spoke on Monday on the condition of anonymity. Egypt brokered the truce, in
coordination with the United States.
Blinken, due to remain in the region through Thursday,
planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah later on Tuesday.
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