Biden to visit Israel, Jordan amid rising concerns of conflict escalation

US President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and on to Jordan on Wednesday (October 18) to meet with both the Israeli and the Arab leadership, as concerns rise that the raging Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been holding meetings with several leaders in the Middle East, announced Biden’s travel to Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire and Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on the 365-sqkm territory to root out Hamas militants responsible for what US and Israeli officials say was the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust.

Shortly after in Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced that Biden would also go to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Biden speaks with trio of leaders

This came after Biden consulted with a trio of world leaders and his own national security team on Monday (October 16). He spoke over phone with el-Sissi, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the fallout of Hamas militants’ surprise attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead and retaliatory strikes that have killed at least 2,778 Palestinians.

Biden’s Democratic administration has pledged military support, sending US carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of USD 2 billion in additional aid for both Israel and Ukraine, which is fighting Russia's invasion.

Truckloads of aid idled at Egypt’s border with Gaza, barred from entry, as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded Monday for water, food, and fuel for dying generators, saying the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after last week’s rampage by Hamas was near total collapse.

“We’ve been crystal clear about the need for humanitarian aid to be able to continue to flow into Gaza,” Kirby said. “That has been a consistent call by President Biden and certainly by this entire administration.”

The issue of refugees

Earlier on Monday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed in the Oval Office by their national security team on the situation on the ground in Israel and Gaza. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients joined the briefing led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns, according to the White House.

Biden was scheduled to travel to Pueblo, Colorado, on Monday but decided to postpone the visit so he could consult with his aides and speak with fellow leaders about the unfolding situation in the Middle East.

Biden’s call with the Egyptian leader came one day after el-Sissi met with Blinken in Cairo. Egypt's state-run media said el-Sissi told Blinken that Israel’s Gaza operation has exceeded “the right of self-defence” and turned into “a collective punishment”.

European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Tuesday (October 17) as concern mounts that the war between Israel and Hamas could fuel tensions in Europe and bring more refugees in search of sanctuary.

Blinken back in Israel

Blinken was in Israel on Monday for his second visit in less than a week for talks with Israeli leaders. He has been crisscrossing the Middle East with stops in Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Blinken, in talks Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, carried back some of the feedback he received from Arab leaders. He also “underlined his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas’ terrorism and reaffirmed US determination to provide the Israeli government with what it needs to protect its citizens,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

More than 1,400 Israelis were killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas’ assault. At least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel. It’s the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria.

Iran warns of “pre-emptive action”

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister warned Monday that “pre-emptive action is possible” if Israel moves closer to its looming ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Iran is a chief financial sponsor of Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The comments by Hossein Amirabdollahian follow a pattern of escalating rhetoric from Iran.

“Leaders of the resistance will not allow the Zionist regime to do whatever it wants in Gaza and then go after other resistance groups after it’s done with Gaza,” he told state television. “Therefore, any pre-emptive action is possible in the coming hours.”

White House officials have said that US intelligence shows that Iran has been broadly aware that Hamas had been preparing for a possible strike against Israel. But the US says it has yet to uncover evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the October 7 attack.

Israel is preparing for the potential of a new front opening on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has exchanged fire repeatedly with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. The military ordered residents of 28 Israeli communities near the border to evacuate.

Blinken’s brush with rocket fire

Air raid sirens interrupted Blinken’s return to Israel thrice on Monday, twice as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet for discussions over the war with Hamas. The sirens signalling incoming rocket fire, followed by the loud booms of Iran Dome air defences intercepting rockets, underscored an often-daily reality for Israelis, particularly since Gaza-based Hamas began massive assaults on Israel on October 7.

Blinken and his team got their first taste of the warning system and Iron Dome response as they drove from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv minutes after sirens sounded in both cities, causing motorists on the highway linking them to pull over and take cover.

Blinken’s motorcade did not slow or alter its route but sped quickly to the Israeli Ministry of Defence as motorists on the shoulders of the road returned to their vehicles.

(With agency inputs)