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ConflictsMiddle East

Blinken heads to Egypt on last leg of Middle East tour

January 11, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been touring the Middle East to try to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading to the wider region. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent has said four paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

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[Video transcript]

A daily reality in Gaza — people running in panic after an Israeli air strike.

The attack hit a two-story building in the central city of Deir al-Balah. 

(Ramadan Darwit, Palestinian citizen) 
"People were queueing to receive aid at the school, they were hit. 20 martyrs were buried at the school.''
 
In this hospital in the same area, paramedics burst into tears as they recognize their colleagues. 

Four of them were killed after an Israeli strike hit their ambulance.  

(Head of PRCS branch in Deir al-Balah, Hatem al-Dabak) 
"We're being directly targeted, so we won't be able to save the lives of the wounded. We've said many times before that ambulances will be moving, but it looks like they want to stop patients being saved because of this direct airstrike."
 
In response to growing international pressure, on Monday Israel pledged that it would shift to a more targeted campaign in Gaza. 

But the fighting appears to be as intense as before. 

With no indication the Israeli government is planning to pause its campaign. 

(Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister) 
"Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and we are doing so in full compliance with international law."

With calls from Washington to protect civilian lives in Gaza, the US's top diplomat continues his tour of the region. 

On Wednesday, Antony Blinken met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank. 

(Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State) 
"We talked as well about the importance of reforming the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian governance so that it can effectively take responsibility for Gaza — so that Gaza and the West Bank can be reunited under a Palestinian leadership."

Blinken's fourth trip to the region since October ends in Egypt on Thursday. 

His main declared task has been to stop the conflict from spreading.

But a week of meetings with the region's most powerful leaders has not eased the suffering of civilians in Gaza. 

DIMITRY PONYAVIN
Dmitry Ponyavin Editor, producer and correspondent covering major news stories from around the world.