Blinken meets Arab partners in Amman to discuss humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, hostages

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, November 4 held meeting with several Arab partners in Amman, Jordan to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement that Jordan has convened the counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Qatar, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, all of whom met with US Secretary of State Blinken.

During the meeting with several Arab partners in Amman, Blinken focussed on ending the war in the Middle East, and addressed “the humanitarian catastrophe it has caused.” He met with the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Qatar has served as the key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war and has helped in securing the release of four hostages since the October 7 attack into the border towns of Israel where the terror group took several people hostage including the foreign passport holders, and the Americans. Qatar has played a role of an influential interlocutor in securing the safe passage for the foreign citizens and the injured Palestinians to leave Gaza and cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing. Blinken also met with the head of the United Nations agency which is in charge of assisting Palestinian refugees, and expressed condolences for the loss of 70 of its staff members, the highest in any conflict in the world.

Blinken met with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during his third trip to the Arab region since Israel launched ground offensive inside the besieged strip of Gaza. US has been pushing for a humanitarian pause to get more aid into Gaza and secure the release of the hostages. Blinken’s meeting with Arab partners to discuss the civilian casualties, humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages in Amman comes after he concluded the Israel visit where he met with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pressed for the ‘pause’ to the hostilities.

While in Arab region, Blinken also plans to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose country recalled its ambassador to Israel this week citing the humanitarian catastrophe. The Arab partners gathered to meet with the US Secretary of State on request of Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman al-Safadi, who stated that the meeting was organised “in the context of their efforts aimed at stopping the Israeli war on Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing."

Arabs to insist US to resist ‘any talks’ on postwar period in Gaza: Egyptian officials

The Egyptian officials noted in a statement that Arab governments are involved in discussions with the US to resist “any talks” on the postwar period in Gaza, establish a ceasefire and allow the delivery of more humanitarian aid and fuel. An estimated 100 trucks have entered Gaza over the past two days, and the capacity is expected to ramp up to 100 to 105 per day.

Despite Blinken’s in-person visit, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised statement ahead of the start of Shabbat said that there would be no humanitarian pause and no fuel will be allowed into the besieged strip of Gaza until the hostages held by terror group Hamas are released unconditionally.