Blinken cancels Israel trip amid rising Iran attack threats
1:01 PM EDT, August 14, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has completely canceled his trip to Israel. Earlier, the White House announced it was postponed due to the threat of an attack from Iran.
"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now reported to have Fully Canceled his Trip to Israel after it was Postponed yesterday, due to the Threat of an Iranian Attack," reads a post by OSINTdefender on platform X.
The first report on the issue came from journalist Anna Rayva-Barsky, who provided the information on X:
Visit canceled due to fear of an Iranian attack
On Tuesday, reports emerged about the postponement of Blinken's visits to Qatar, Egypt, and Israel. According to Axios journalist Barak Ravid, citing two sources in the administration, Blinken postponed the departure due to "uncertainty about the situation."
Blinken's visit, which was supposed to discuss the possibilities of achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, had not been officially announced. However, on Tuesday, White House envoy for the Middle East Brett McGurk arrived in Cairo, and Amos Hochstein, the energy envoy, visited Lebanon to work on preventing the conflict in the Middle East from spreading.
Iranian attack on Israel certain?
The White House had earlier warned that it anticipates a "significant" retaliatory attack by Iran and its allies on Israel, likely later this week. However, according to sources cited by Axios, this attack will not occur on Tuesday. The attack is expected to be Tehran's response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
A further round of peace talks regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages was scheduled for Thursday. Still, it is unclear whether negotiations will occur in light of the potential escalation of conflict.
