U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the latest developments in Israel and Gaza. "The President and the Prime Minister discussed at length ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, including many children and a number of Americans," the White House said in a readout.
Biden's calls came as the administration announced another high-level trip to the Middle East to discuss efforts to ensure this crisis never happens again, increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, evacuate foreign nationals, and ensure the immediate and safe return of all hostages, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports,
Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara A. Leaf will stop by Israel and the Gulf, including to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, where they will also discuss regional security issues and share policy responses.
The delegation will "continue" the work that Secretary Antony Blinken launched in his two trips to the region, as State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller put it, "trying to achieve many of the same objectives: one, to ensure that Israel is able to defend itself against terrorism while respecting humanitarian law, that we are trying to secure the release of hostages, that we are trying to secure the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Rafah and facilitate the departure of American citizens from Rafah,"
When asked by TURAN if Assistant Secretary Leaf had any new message on behalf of the Secretary, Miller said Washington 'continues to work' to try to prevent the conflict from spreading, "which has been one of our top objectives from the outset."
He then added: "There are now over 600 American citizens and lawful permanent residents and their family members who have departed Gaza through Rafah gate. There are a little under a thousand that we know of that are left now we hope – whose departure we hope to facilitate over the coming days should they wish to depart. "
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