Current:Home > ScamsPresident Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday: Sec. Blinken -ForexStream
President Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday: Sec. Blinken
View
Date:2025-04-24 18:39:26
President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Monday night.
Blinken made the announcement from Israel, where it was early Tuesday morning, following a lengthy meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Beyond the news of Biden’s impending visit, Blinken also announced the U.S. and Israel will develop a plan "that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm's way," he said.
MORE: 'Extremely difficult': What would be Israel's objectives in an offensive into Gaza?
At his address to the media, Blinken said Biden has a four-part goal.
"First, the president will reaffirm the United States’ solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security. President Biden will again make clear, as he's done unequivocally since Hamas’ slaughter of more than 1400 people, including at least 30 Americans, that Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks," Blinken said. "The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend his people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs."
As he continued, Blinken said the president “will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state or non-state, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel: Don't. To that end, he's deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region.”
Blinken also said Biden will continue coordinating with Israeli partners on working to get hostages released from Hamas.
Lastly, Secretary Blinken said Biden will be briefed on Israel’s “war aims and strategy.”
The Biden administration has pledged unwavering support to Israel in the wake of the terror attacks inflicted by Hamas. The terrorist group launched an unprecedented incursion on Oct. 7, killing hundreds at a music festival and families inside Israeli communities near the Gaza border. Hamas also took nearly 200 hostages from Israel, including Americans.
President Biden called Hamas’ actions “sheer evil” and quickly bolstered munitions to Israel. Top officials, including Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have been deployed to the region in a show of solidarity.
In recent days, Biden has also expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis unfolding for Palestinian civilians, stating while Israel has a right to defend itself it must follow the “rules of war."
In his strongest statements yet on Israel's counteroffensive against Hamas, he cautioned that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a "big mistake."
The death toll continues to climb in Gaza, with at least 2,750 people killed and 9,700 more injured. In Israel, at least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 have been injured.
Israel, which cut off electricity to Gaza, told more than a million civilians to flee south as it prepares for a possible ground assault. The evacuation call, rejected by Hamas, prompted panic and forced residents to make difficult decisions on whether to stay or leave.
The crisis presents a diplomatic challenge for the Biden administration.
A senior U.S. official previously told ABC News that if Biden did accept Netanyahu's invitation, it would be to try to "modulate" decision-making inside the Israeli cabinet with a belief in the administration that only Biden can successfully urge restraint.
Blinken has said a new focus is "safe zones" for civilians inside Gaza, as well as negotiating the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Israel and Egypt to allow for the flow of humanitarian assistance.
But as of Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said no fuel, food, water or other kinds of aid had entered Gaza.
MORE: How to help victims of the deadly and distructive Israel-Gaza conflict
There are also concerns that the Hamas-Israel war could spread into a wider regional conflict. Fighting has increased tension along the Lebanon-Israel border, where there have been some clashes between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Pentagon has placed about 2,000 American troops on a heightened state of readiness to possibly be deployed to the Middle East in case they're needed, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
-ABC's Martha Raddatz, Luis Martinez and Jolie Lash contributed to this report.
veryGood! (553)
Related
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Ranking
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
Recommendation
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam