I have to say, Blinken has been quite busy during this time. A few days ago, he had just finished his visit to China, and before he had stopped for two days, Blinken went straight to the Middle East.
According to the US State Department, a few days ago, Blinken has officially begun his visit to Saudi Arabia. If I'm not mistaken, this should be Blinken's seventh trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. However, judging from the current conflict situation, Blinken has been there so many times, but it has not had any effect.
As for the United States, Blinken's seventh visit to the Middle East is most likely a last resort. Why do you say that, because if Blinken had negotiated with China during his visit to China, he would not have been in such a hurry to go to the Middle East.
Judging from the official press release, Blinken's visit to China has reached five major consensuses between China and the United States. But what the press release did not say was that China did not make concessions on the Middle East issue and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, nor did it agree to the US demands. Even though the United States had taken various measures before the visit, and even threatened China to make concessions, Blinken still returned in vain, so he rushed to the Middle East.
So what is Blinken doing in the Middle East? According to the news, Blinken attended the ministerial meeting of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf hosted by Saudi Arabia. Not surprisingly, the United States hopes to get in touch with the countries of the Middle East in this way and win a unanimous attitude to cool down the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
At present, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict situation is at a critical juncture. Both Israel and Hamas have signaled negotiations. Hamas even said it was willing to cease war with Israel as long as the two-state solution could be implemented. Similarly, Israel also made a statement a few days ago, but its attitude was very tough, bluntly saying that it would either negotiate or continue to fight.
It seems that both sides are willing to negotiate, but in reality, Hamas and Israel basically have no basis for negotiation. The two-state solution that Hamas calls for is an internationally recognized Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Israel's claim is that parts of the West Bank, as well as all Jewish settlements, belong to Israel's territory in terms of the territories actually controlled by both sides.
In short, it seems that there is a drama in the negotiations, but in fact, it will not work at all, and the battle will have to be fought again. And this is the last thing the United States wants to see. The United States must act to bring together forces to reduce the intensity of the conflict. It is certainly impossible to find Iran, so the United States has found Saudi Arabia, which is the leader of the Arab countries. If China fails, the United States can only use this as a starting point to clean up this mess itself.
But I still say that the current situation in the Middle East cannot be handled by the United States itself, and it does not have that strength. This is not a mere historical contradiction between Israel and Palestine. The development of the situation has already involved the entire situation in the Middle East. It involves the arc of Shiite resistance, led by Iran. There are also Sunni Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia.
If the United States wants to control the situation and reduce the intensity of the conflict, it must bring all four parties to the negotiating table. Unless the United States asks China and Russia to exert their diplomatic strength, any effort by the United States will be self-talking and useless.