Blinken, upon arrival in Israel: "It is everyone's responsibility to take steps to reduce tension"

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, had been planning to visit Israel and Palestine for weeks, but when he landed in Tel Aviv this Monday he seemed to have moved urgently, with an escalation of violence in the area and the still fresh smoke from the bombardments of a military center in the Iranian city of Isfahan and of an Iranian convoy between Iraq and Syria, which some sources attribute to the Mossad.

In the 96 hours prior to its arrival, Israel has carried out one of its deadliest raids in the West Bank since the Second Intifada (2000-2005) in Jenin, with 10 dead;

a Palestinian has killed seven people in a settlement near Jerusalem, in the most serious attack against Israelis since 2011;

and Palestinian attacks have spread,

In this context, after landing from Egypt, Blinken dedicated his first words to reminding that "it is everyone's responsibility to take steps to reduce tension, instead of fueling it."

This weekend, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has approved making it easier for thousands of civilians to obtain a weapons permit, has sealed the house of the author of the attack until it is demolished and has announced that it will "reinforce the settlements" in occupied territory and it will withdraw social security “to the families of terrorists who support terrorism”.

The Palestinian Authority has held the Israeli occupation government "full responsibility for the dangerous escalation."

Blinken has also indicated that the attack on Friday, carried out in front of a synagogue, was "more than an attack against people, it was also an attack on the universal act of practicing one's own faith."

“And we condemn all those who celebrate this and any other act of terrorism that takes innocent lives, whoever the victim is or what they believe in.

Calls for revenge against more innocent victims are not the answer, ”he added before leaving for Jerusalem to meet separately with Netanyahu;

with the new foreign minister, Eli Cohen;

and with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.

On Tuesday he will travel to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas.

The statements stick to the script that began in Egypt, the first leg of his tour of the Middle East, which he left this afternoon.

There he also spoke generically of "reducing tensions" and urged "calm", with the focus on his speeches on the Palestinian attacks, as in the interview he gave to the Emirati chain

.

Blinken, whose country maintains a close alliance with Israel, stressed the "importance of working for a two-state solution."

It is the formula to end the conflict that Washington defends -and the rest of the international community- and rejects the current Israeli Executive, the most right-wing in the country's history.

The escalation of violence has claimed a new fatality on Monday: Israeli soldiers have killed a Palestinian youth at a military checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.

According to the Israeli army, they opened fire on the vehicle when it tried to avoid inspection.

attack in isfahan

Blinken will have less trouble speaking openly about the tension between Israelis and Palestinians than about the mysterious bombing of a military center in the Iranian city of Isfahan the day before.

The Iranian Ministry of Defense defends that the attack, with three drones, was repelled, that it did not cause fatalities and only left "minor damage" on the roof of the facility.

Moment of the explosion at the military installation in the Iranian city of Isfahan, this Sunday. WANA NEWS AGENCY (via REUTERS)

Official US sources quoted by the country's press attribute it to Israel's foreign secret service.

The only country in the Middle East with a nuclear arsenal (unrecognized), it is one of the main standard-bearers of the heavy hand against Tehran's atomic program, it opposes a reactivation of the nuclear pact and has maintained a covert campaign of assassinations of scientists for years Iranian nuclear attacks, cyber attacks and sabotage.

“It is not hard to say who has the ability to know what is kept in the most secret military facility in the heart of a major Iranian city and who has the ability to attack it with large quadcopters,” said Ronen Bergman, a commentator on political and military affairs. in this Monday's edition of the Israeli daily

.

This Monday, Iran has summoned the charge d'affaires of Ukraine for a sarcastic tweet from Mikhailo Podoliak, the main adviser to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenksi, after the attack: "Explosive night in Iran [...] We warned you".

Tehran supports Moscow in the war.

Israel is also blamed for frequent bombardments in Syria by Iranian forces or their allies, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, fighting on the side of Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday two airstrikes near the border with Iraq, one of them, on Sunday night, against a convoy.

In total, they caused 10 deaths, including a commander of a pro-Iranian militia, according to the Observatory.

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