US State Secy Blinken meets Saudi Crown Prince, discusses Hamas terror attacks on Israel
Oct 15, 2023
Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], October 15 : Amid the escalating tensions and conflict between Israel and Hamas terror group, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
Sharing on his social media 'X', formerly known as Twitter, Blinked said, "Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and I met today in Riyadh and discussed the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel."
https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1713495640947212576?s=20
US State Secretary Blinken is on a visit to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt from October 11-15 to meet with senior officials and reiterate his condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Israel and to reaffirm the US's solidarity with the people and government of Israel.
Earlier on Saturday, Blinken met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan and said that Hamas is a terrorist group and its only agenda is to destroy Israel and murder Jews. He further added that the group is not a representative of the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for the future.
"Hamas is not a representative of the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for the future. Hamas is a terrorist group and its only agenda is to destroy Israel and murder Jews. And it is important that the entire world sees it as such. This is an important moment for more clarity when it comes to Hamas," the US State Secretary said during his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Foreign Minister said the primary sufferers of the Israel-Palestine conflict "are civilians, civilian population on both sides...I think we all condemn the targeting of civilians in any form, at any time and by anyone...The priority now needs to be to stop further civilian suffering..."
He said: "We need to find a way to quickly de-escalate the situation (Israel-Palestine conflict)...at least stopping the guns and working towards addressing the cause of humanitarian challenges. I have to emphasise that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is very difficult. We need to work together to make sure that access to humanitarian relief is allowed...We need to work together to find a way out of the cycle of violence..."
According to The Times of Israel, the Hamas-run health ministry said that nearly 2,329 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,042 have been wounded in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, the Israel Defence Forces said that it has killed nearly 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory after they breached the border fence and rampaged murderously in southern Israel, killing over 1,300 people, mostly civilians.
Earlier, Blinken said that efforts to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza have been "complicated" as terrorist group Hamas continues to use civilians as "human shields" and is reportedly blocking roads to prevent Palestinians from relocating to southern Gaza.
Terming the humanitarian situation as "urgent" Blinken added that the US is actively engaged with its partners, including Qatar to provide humanitarian aid to those who are in need.