US President Joe Biden will make a landmark trip to Israel in an “ironclad” show of US support, as efforts to ease a spiralling humanitarian disaster in Gaza intensify.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,800 people have been martyred in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, around a quarter of them children, and more than 10,000 wounded are in hospitals desperately short of supplies.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the visit as a statement of “solidarity with Israel” and an “ironclad commitment to its security”.
Biden’s visit will also seek to avert a regional conflagration with Iran, which on Monday warned of a possible “pre-emptive action” against Israel “in the coming hours”.
Repeated fire in recent days along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon has claimed lives on both sides and compounded fears of a regional spillover of the war.
Biden’s visit also comes amid frantic diplomatic efforts to ease the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza after waves of brutal Israeli retaliatory air strikes on the enclave.
After Israel, Biden will travel to Jordan where he will meet Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Under relentless Israeli bombardment, thousands of Palestinians have martyred and international agencies warn millions more face dwindling supplies of water, food and fuel – even before a looming Israeli ground invasion.
