The Palestinian Authority criticized repeated visits made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region as futile for failing to make Israel comply with both the UN resolutions and ICJ’s interim orders

Hamas had proposed a 135-day agreement which would have seen the release of all hostages in exchange for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners and “complete and sustainable calm.” The proposal was a response to the “Framework Agreement” mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US in Paris last week.

Blinken has failed to achieve most of the stated goals of his repeated visits to the region since October 7 including getting commitment from Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel

Biden’s interest narrows down to prevent the war from spreading in the region lest direct American military intervention becomes necessary. The US rhetoric and diplomatic posturing largely aims at damage control in Washington’s relations with its erstwhile allies in the region.

Antony Blinken is using his trip to the region to issue fresh threats to resistance forces that stand with Palestinians, while failing to offer any hope for immediate peace.

In less than a month, the US has signed three separate defense agreements with countries like Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, to ramp up the militarization in the Nordic region

After talks in Doha to extend the ceasefire did not lead to a conclusion, Israel resumed its attacks on Gaza on Friday, killing at least 21 people, including a journalist. The US expressed support to Israel’s decision

President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Riyadh and the Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship is fast acquiring a qualitatively new level of solidarity in the context of the Palestine-Israel conflict

Over 26,000 people have been injured and around 1.5 million displaced out of a total population of 2.3 million since Israel started its war on Gaza on October 7. Israeli forces have also killed over 150 people in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem

Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah’s speech was keenly awaited in world capitals, principally for any clues on Hezbollah’s intentions going forward. But the master tactician instead focused on the big picture, for, as he put it, October 7 “heralds a changed landscape, necessitating a shared responsibility from all parties” 

The Biden administration’s doublespeak scatters the strategic ambiguity that shrouded its stance so far. What stands out is a bizarre neocon project to force regime change in Gaza through coercion and install a pliant regime, midway to the US’ own idea of a “two-state solution”

Both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin make it clear that the US is ready to escalate an already genocidal war