Antony Blinken

It Is Time for a Truce in Gaza, Says Blinken in Qatar

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken appealed Tuesday to Hamas urgently to accept a ceasefire plan to ease suffering in Gaza but also entered a public spat with Israel as he capped a new round of shuttle diplomacy. The US Secretary of State closed his ninth wartime trip to the region, in which he warned that the US-backed truce proposal may be the ...

Blinken Arrives in Qatar for Gaza Truce Push

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar on Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour to push forward talks aimed at ending the 10-month-old Gaza war. A US senior official traveling with Blinken in the Middle East criticized "maximalist" remarks attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on maintaining control of ...

Blinken: Israel Accepts Bridging Proposal

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is continuing his visit to the Middle East. On Monday, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The US diplomat stated that "Israel accepts the bridging proposal" and that "Prime Minister Netanyahu has committed to sending his senior expert team back ...

Blinken Meets Egyptian President in Gaza Truce Push

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken met Egypt's president Tuesday for talks about a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same. The Palestinian militant group, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, said it was "keen to reach a ceasefire" agreement but protested US ...

Blinken Asserts Netanyahu's Support for Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him of support for a US proposal to bridge gaps on reaching a Gaza ceasefire, and pressed Hamas to agree. Following three hours of talks with the prime minister in Jerusalem, Blinken said that Netanyahu promised Israel would send a team to ...

Iran and Israel Should Not “Escalate This Conflict”: Blinken

Both Iran and Israel should avoid escalating conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, in his most direct wording toward US ally Israel on the Middle East's spiraling tensions. "No one should escalate this conflict. We've been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We ...

Blinken: US 'Not Aware of or Involved in' Haniyeh's Death

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States was "not aware of or involved in" the killing of Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. "I can't tell you what this means. I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains," Blinken said in an interview ...

US to Significantly Step Up Support to Philippines

The United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China's growing assertiveness. Blinken was in Manila with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as part of an Asia-Pacific tour to strengthen Washington's ...

Quad ‘Seriously Concerned’ About Situation in South China Sea

The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, Australia and India expressed on Monday "serious concern" over the situation in the South China Sea in a veiled rebuke to Beijing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts in the so-called Quad grouping issued a joint statement calling for a "free and open" Pacific after talks in ...

Blinken on All Fronts During Japan Visit

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about a number of current international issues, with Israel-Lebanon at the forefront, at a press conference on Sunday, during a trip to Japan planned to strengthen defense ties between the two countries. Blinken said that there was "every indication" that Hezbollah was behind a rocket strike ...

US Announces Sudan Ceasefire Talks

The United States announced Tuesday that it had invited Sudan's warring sides to hold ceasefire talks next month. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had invited Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to start US-mediated negotiations beginning on August 14 in Switzerland. "The United States remains ...