Current:Home > MarketsPresident Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday: Sec. Blinken -Blueprint Wealth Network
President Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday: Sec. Blinken
View
Date:2025-04-16 10:42:07
President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Monday night.
Blinken made the announcement from Israel, where it was early Tuesday morning, following a lengthy meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Beyond the news of Biden’s impending visit, Blinken also announced the U.S. and Israel will develop a plan "that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm's way," he said.
MORE: 'Extremely difficult': What would be Israel's objectives in an offensive into Gaza?
At his address to the media, Blinken said Biden has a four-part goal.
"First, the president will reaffirm the United States’ solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security. President Biden will again make clear, as he's done unequivocally since Hamas’ slaughter of more than 1400 people, including at least 30 Americans, that Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks," Blinken said. "The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend his people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs."
As he continued, Blinken said the president “will underscore our crystal-clear message to any actor, state or non-state, trying to take advantage of this crisis to attack Israel: Don't. To that end, he's deployed two aircraft carrier groups and other military assets to the region.”
Blinken also said Biden will continue coordinating with Israeli partners on working to get hostages released from Hamas.
Lastly, Secretary Blinken said Biden will be briefed on Israel’s “war aims and strategy.”
The Biden administration has pledged unwavering support to Israel in the wake of the terror attacks inflicted by Hamas. The terrorist group launched an unprecedented incursion on Oct. 7, killing hundreds at a music festival and families inside Israeli communities near the Gaza border. Hamas also took nearly 200 hostages from Israel, including Americans.
President Biden called Hamas’ actions “sheer evil” and quickly bolstered munitions to Israel. Top officials, including Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have been deployed to the region in a show of solidarity.
In recent days, Biden has also expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis unfolding for Palestinian civilians, stating while Israel has a right to defend itself it must follow the “rules of war."
In his strongest statements yet on Israel's counteroffensive against Hamas, he cautioned that an Israeli occupation of Gaza would be a "big mistake."
The death toll continues to climb in Gaza, with at least 2,750 people killed and 9,700 more injured. In Israel, at least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 have been injured.
Israel, which cut off electricity to Gaza, told more than a million civilians to flee south as it prepares for a possible ground assault. The evacuation call, rejected by Hamas, prompted panic and forced residents to make difficult decisions on whether to stay or leave.
The crisis presents a diplomatic challenge for the Biden administration.
A senior U.S. official previously told ABC News that if Biden did accept Netanyahu's invitation, it would be to try to "modulate" decision-making inside the Israeli cabinet with a belief in the administration that only Biden can successfully urge restraint.
Blinken has said a new focus is "safe zones" for civilians inside Gaza, as well as negotiating the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Israel and Egypt to allow for the flow of humanitarian assistance.
But as of Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said no fuel, food, water or other kinds of aid had entered Gaza.
MORE: How to help victims of the deadly and distructive Israel-Gaza conflict
There are also concerns that the Hamas-Israel war could spread into a wider regional conflict. Fighting has increased tension along the Lebanon-Israel border, where there have been some clashes between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Pentagon has placed about 2,000 American troops on a heightened state of readiness to possibly be deployed to the Middle East in case they're needed, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
-ABC's Martha Raddatz, Luis Martinez and Jolie Lash contributed to this report.
veryGood! (36)
Related
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Airlines say they found loose parts in door panels during inspections of Boeing Max 9 jets
- Campaign to save Benito the Giraffe wins him a new, more spacious home in warmer southern Mexico
- 'Mind-boggling': Firefighter charged after responding to house fire in another county, reports say
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Get $174 Worth of Beauty Products for $25— Peter Thomas Roth, Sunday Riley, Clinique, and More
- Bradley Cooper, Charles Melton and More Stars Who Brought Their Moms to the 2024 Golden Globes
- North Korea and South Korea fire artillery rounds in drills at tense sea boundary
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- The Cast of Stranger Things Is All Grown Up in First Photo From Season 5 Production
Ranking
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Indiana Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton carried off floor with injury
- St. Croix reports island-wide power outage forcing officials to close schools and offices
- We thought the Golden Globes couldn't get any worse. We were wrong.
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Merry Christmas! Man buys wife Powerball ticket as a gift, she wins $2 million
- Arrest made in deadly pre-Christmas Florida mall shooting
- “Shocked” Jonathan Majors Addresses Assault Case in First TV Interview Since Trial
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
A Mississippi university proposes dropping ‘Women’ from its name after decades of also enrolling men
'Scientifically important': North Dakota coal miners stumble across mammoth tusk, bones
Jury selection to begin in trial of man who fatally shot Kaylin Gillis in his driveway
Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
Italian influencer under investigation in scandal over sales of Christmas cakes for charity: reports
Taiwan presidential candidate Lai says he is willing to reopen talks with China
Watch Brie Larson's squad embrace the strange in exclusive 'The Marvels' deleted scene