As fears of a expansion of war in Gaza to the entire Middle Eastthe main representatives of West They activate the diplomatic machinery to prevent fear from becoming reality. This Friday the Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinkenand the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have landed on the other side of the Mediterranean with that mission. They seek to prevent the conflict in Loopwhich has already claimed more than 22,000 lives, expands to the West Bank occupied by Israelto the Lebanon and to Red Sea. In these three territories, tension has been present since October 7, although in recent weeks it has increased.
Until Sunday, Borrell will be in the Lebanonwhere he will meet with local political representatives and the head of mission and commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), General Aroldo Lázaro. This trip is “an occasion to discuss all aspects of the situation in and around Gaza, including its impact on the region, especially the situation in the border between Israel and Lebanon,” the European External Action Service stated this Friday. The head of European diplomacy seeks “avoid regional escalation and sustain the flow of humanitarian aid to civilians, which the EU has quadrupled to reach 100 million euros.” In addition, Borrell defended this Wednesday at an event held in Lisbon that the conflict between Israel and Hamas needs a response “imposed from the abroad”, which can come from the United States, Europe or Arab countries.
Following this same line, Blinken embarked on a tour of the region this Friday, starting with Türkiye and Greece. For a week, you will visit Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, West Bank and Egypt to “underline the importance of protect civilian lives in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza; […] and ensure that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza.” “It will also discuss urgent mechanisms to curb the violence, calm the rhetoric and reduce regional tensions, including deterring Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and preventing an escalation in Lebanon,” the State Department said. “To no one, not Israel, not the It is not in the interest of the region, nor the world, for this conflict to extend beyond Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday. “We do not expect all the conversations on this trip to be easy“, has added.
New plan for Gaza
While diplomacy tries to do its part, the people of the Gaza Strip continue to suffer the indiscriminate attacks of Israeli planes and tanks throughout the Palestinian enclave. At least 162 people have died in the last 24 hours, according to Palestinian health officials. At the same time, they have denounced the spread of hunger and deadly diseases, along with the first deaths from the cold among the little ones forced to sleep in the open every night. Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallantoutlined on Thursday the main lines of the tomorrow’s plan for Gaza. The agreement would leave the enclave governed by a Palestinian body under general Israeli security control. Gallant said the military would base its strategy on a new, more targeted focus on the northern section of the enclave and a continued pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south.
Over the past few weeks, Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has insisted that it will not be the Palestinian Authority, in charge of the occupied West Bank, who governs post-war Gaza. The Palestinian Government, for its part, has said that it is not open to Gallant’s plan to hand over management of the enclave to anonymous “Palestinian bodies” while guaranteeing security control to Israel. Speaking to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the presidency has said it is committed to seeing an end to Israel’s occupation and a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative.
Nasrallah speech
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In Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, has returned to address the nation in his fourth speech since last October 7 and the second this week. “Is inevitable response to what happened in the southern suburbs of Beirut,” he repeated in reference to Tuesday’s assassination of Hamas number two, Saleh al Arouri, in a drone attack. But, as he did a couple of days ago, he has tried push away the drums of war in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s objectives on the southern border are “Press“ on Israel to stop the war in Gaza, and “relieve pressure on the resistance in Gaza.” He has also clarified that there will be no negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel until the war in Gaza ends, which “is not only for Palestine” but also for southern Lebanon, where he has said he wants to “liberate the rest of his territory”.
Nasrallah has reported that Hezbollah has carried out around 670 military operations on the border with Israel since October 8, destroying many Israeli military vehicles. Fears of expansion beyond the countries bordering Israel have been present in diplomatic circles for weeks, with a special focus on the maritime trade routes. The Houthis, aligned with Iran and they control a large part of Yemenhave fired on commercial ships in the Red Sea since November 19, forcing them to take much longer routes in a blow to world trade. For now, Blinken is in Turkey, which has offered to act as a mediator between the parties, while the war machine on Gaza does not stop.