On Tuesday, October 22nd, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel to urge Israeli leadership to continue ceasefire talks with Hamas and allow for more aid to enter the Gaza area. Blinken met with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suggested that Israel “capitalize” on the fact that Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, highlighting that without strong leadership, the organization may fumble, and Hamas might as well surrender now. Blinken also urged Netanyahu to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, as now the Palestinians and those on the Gaza strip have experienced the most deaths since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict. As of now, over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed. Following the meeting, Netanyahu’s office confirmed that they agreed highlighting the death of Sinwar may be positive, but did not mention a ceasefire.
Overall, Blinken’s visit creates sparse hope of a ceasefire and changing conditions for those on the Gaza strip. Despite Netanyahu’s administration agreeing that the death of Sinwar could end up being positive, it is unlikely they will yield and truly discuss a ceasefire because of the more recent intensified attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon. As long as those on the Gaza strip suffer and continue to be killed at a very high rate, Hezbollah will continue to strike Israel. As while, yes, Hamas was the first to attack in October 2023, they were quickly weakened and now the Israel-Hamas conflict appears to include very heavy cultural influences. The barrages on the Palestinians have not stopped, and news of Israel using violence on individual Palestinians has begun popping up more frequently. I believe that, should this continue to a higher degree, the concerns from outside countries over human rights and humanitarian treatment will increase, and we might see more countries outside the Middle East doing as Blinken, and urging Israel to consider ceasefire, though, as the US has demonstrated, it may do close to nothing.
US national interest in the Israel-Hamas conflict is partially representative of US interest in the Russia-Ukraine war. The US and Israel tend to have a mutually beneficial relationship, but so do Israel and Russia. Should Russia be successful in Ukraine, the US would want Israel to be aligned with us rather than Russia. Both Russia and Israel are the top holders of nuclear weapons in the world. And if Israel were to work with Russia in invading a member of NATO, the US would have to be involved, and as Russia and Israel would then be a competitor for nuclear weapons and military power, the situation could escalate very dangerously. Additionally, the interest of the US people may have a part in this. While split pretty evenly on who the US should support, most citizens do believe we should be providing Palestinians with more non-military aid.
