US Secretary of State Blinken has been traveling in the Middle East for days as a crisis diplomat. President Biden held the threads together on the phone. Now he has decided to travel to the Middle East.
US President Joe Biden wants to visit Israel tomorrow in view of the escalation of violence in the Middle East. The White House announced this yesterday evening (local time).
The US government headquarters also announced that Biden would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, among others. The US President wanted to travel on to Jordan on the same day to meet, among others, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II, it said.
Speculation about visitors
The media had previously speculated about the 80-year-old’s trip. Netanyahu is said to have invited Biden to Israel during a phone call at the weekend. After the devastating terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on Israel, Biden spoke regularly with Netanyahu, sometimes several times a day. He also sent his Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and other countries in the region. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was also in Israel for talks.
Biden had repeatedly emphasized that the USA unconditionally stands by Israel. At the same time, he pointed out that the number of civilian casualties must be kept as low as possible. As Israel’s most important ally, the USA supports the country with billions of dollars. Biden had announced that he would request further funding for the country from the US Congress.
The USA absolutely wants to avoid a further escalation of the conflict in the region. Therefore, the USA has deployed several warships to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent. These include, among others, the aircraft carriers “USS Dwight D. Eisenhower” and “USS Gerald R. Ford”. Air Force squadrons with their fighter jets were also sent to the region. The White House recently emphasized that it had no plans to send ground troops to Israel.
Reports: US soldiers on standby
According to consistent media reports, the USA has put US military troops on standby in view of the situation in the Middle East. Around 2,000 soldiers are currently preparing for a possible deployment to support Israel, reports the Wall Street Journal, CNN and NBC News, among others, citing unnamed sources from the US Department of Defense. There was initially no official confirmation of this.
According to the reports, the soldiers could take on tasks in the logistical or medical areas. They are not intended for combat missions, reported the Wall Street Journal. The affected US military personnel are currently stationed both in the Middle East and abroad, including in Europe. According to information from NBC News, they would not necessarily be deployed in Israel or Gaza, but in neighboring countries to support Israel in the fight against the Islamist Hamas.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
