Blinken says meeting with Saudi Crown Prince ‘very productive’

RIYADH – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said he held a “very productive” meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, a critical diplomatic engagement as Israel prepared to launch

a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip

and Washington worked to contain the conflict.

The top US diplomat had arrived in Israel last Thursday and has since visited six Arab countries. He landed in Egypt on Sunday and is expected to meet its President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Before departing for Cairo, Mr Blinken held talks with Prince Mohammed, one of the most powerful leaders of the region.

During the meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince stressed the need to find ways to stop the conflict and to respect international law, including by lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

“(The Crown Prince stressed the need to find) a peace path to ensure that the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and achieve just and lasting peace,” SPA said.

A US official said the meeting lasted for just under an hour and took place at Prince Mohammed’s private farm residence.

“The Secretary highlighted the United States’ unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages, and preventing the conflict from spreading,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond,” he added.

Mr Blinken’s meeting on Sunday with Saud Arabia’s de facto ruler comes as the region is on the brink of a further escalation in Gaza, a small coastal enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians bracing themselves for Israel’s ground offensive.

The top US diplomat will travel to Israel again on Monday for further consultations with its leaders after visiting the country five days ago, Mr Miller said on Sunday.

Over 1,400 people were killed in the unexpected onslaught by Hamas militants in Israeli towns eight days ago.

Israel responded by subjecting Gaza to the most intense bombardment it has ever seen, putting the small enclave

under total siege and destroying much of its infrastructure.

The Gaza authorities said more than 2,450 people have been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded.

One million people have reportedly left their homes before the ground assault, which is expected to result in more casualties.

The US government last Saturday advised its citizens in Gaza – it estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans there at 500 to 600 – to move south towards the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be ready for its possible reopening.

Washington worked with Egypt, Israel and Qatar to try to open the Rafah crossing for limited hours on Saturday afternoon to allow Palestinian-Americans to leave, a senior State Department official told reporters travelling with Mr Blinken.

But it was unclear whether Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza, would allow access to the crossing, or whether any US citizens were able to exit, the official said later.

It was not immediately known whether the US would make another attempt to get Rafah opened on Sunday.

Mr Blinken has embarked on his most extensive trip to date to the Middle East, working with Arab allies to prevent the war from spiralling into a wider conflict and help secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas militants.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, whose militants shot men, women and children and seized hostages in the worst attack on civilians in the country’s history.

Late on Saturday, Iran warned of “far-reaching consequences” if Israel’s bombardment was not stopped.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government also told militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which neighbours Israel to the north, not to start a war on a second front, threatening the “destruction of Lebanon” if it did.

Mr Blinken started his tour on Thursday in Israel, voicing robust US support for Washington’s closest Middle East ally in its war against Hamas.

Since then, he has visited Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He made a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates and returned to Riyadh to meet the Crown Prince late on Saturday, although the meeting materialised only on Sunday morning.

Mr Blinken on Saturday met Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in Riyadh.

Before their meeting, Mr Blinken said protecting civilians on both sides of the conflict was vital.

“And we’re working together to do exactly that, in particular working on establishing safe areas in Gaza, working on establishing corridors so that humanitarian assistance can reach people who need it.” REUTERS