Israeli-Palestinian tensions: Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv and calls for "calm"

The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken arrived this Monday, January 30 in Tel Aviv for a whirlwind visit which will take him to Jerusalem and Ramallah, noted an AFP journalist, against the backdrop of a new spiral of Israeli violence. murderous Palestinians.

He was late morning in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.

Antony Blinken is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu this Monday in Jerusalem and Tuesday, January 31 in Ramallah the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, with whom he must reiterate his call for restraint.

Call for de-escalation

“

”, Antony Blinken launched during a press conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Choukri who pleaded for “

” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more than never deadlocked.

Egypt, its diplomacy and above all its intelligence services, are regularly called upon to intervene in the Palestinian question: the first Arab country to have signed peace with Israel in 1979, and a neighboring state in the Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade for more than For 15 years, Egypt has received Israeli heads of government as well as the leaders of the various Palestinian parties.

Again, the Egyptian presidency assured that “

”.

Growing tensions

Because once again, the deaths on the Palestinian and Israeli sides have multiplied in recent days: attacks, shootings, air raids and punitive measures continue to respond despite international calls for “

”.

In the wake of anti-Israeli attacks, Binyamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israel's history, announced measures aimed at punishing those close to the perpetrators of the attacks.

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This Sunday, Israeli forces sealed off the home of the family of a Palestinian who killed six Israelis and a Ukrainian on Friday (January 27th) in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the holy city occupied by Israel, in preparation for the destroy.

The house of a Palestinian who on Saturday (January 28th) injured two Israelis, a father and his son, also in East Jerusalem, was also to be sealed.

Read alsoJerusalem still under high tension after a bloody weekend

Israeli guards on Sunday January 29 killed a Palestinian in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. On Monday January 23, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Hebron in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian authorities.

The anti-Israel attacks came after Israel's deadliest raid in years in the West Bank with ten Palestinians killed in Jenin, followed by rocket fire from Gaza into Israel and retaliatory Israeli strikes.

This violence raises fears of a new spiral and Antony Blinken must once again reiterate the American call for restraint this Monday with Benyamin Netanyahu and then with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

If the United States and Egypt, one of the main recipients of American military aid, are important diplomatic actors, the fact remains that for the experts, the room for maneuver of Antony Blinken seems limited.

Washington has condemned an "

" attack in East Jerusalem and Antony Blinken will urge Benyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas to "

" according to the State Department.

Read alsoCan we get out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

An Israeli and a Palestinian debate

But, in private, American officials do not hide their frustration with the escalation and impasse in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict finds itself.

If little progress is expected on the de-escalation front, Washington is above all trying to reconnect with Benyamin Netanyahu, according to analysts.

Officials have recently succeeded in Jerusalem and some experts are talking about a possible arrival of Benyamin Netanyahu in the White House in February.

Evocation of Sudan

On the Egyptian diplomatic front, Antony Blinken assured Sameh Shukri of US support for a diplomatic solution to the dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Addis Ababa mega-dam on the Nile.

This US support comes after a surprise statement by Sudan's de facto leader, putschist General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, who last week said he "

" with Ethiopia, appearing to withdraw his support for Egypt on the dam file.

Read alsoIn Sudan, an agreement against a backdrop of dissension

Antony Blinken also spoke of the political impasse in Sudan, where civilians are struggling to return to government, and in Libya where he said he wanted to see elections quickly.

And he returned to the issue of human rights in Egypt, an issue on which President Joe Biden promised intransigence at the start of his term.

Antony Blinken thus said he hoped for the release of the more than 60,000 political prisoners in the country and the opening of the "

" promised for almost a year by the authorities.