US secretary of state, Emirati ruler discuss Gaza aid

US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller has said that Antony J. Blinken, the US secretary of state, met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi on January 8.

The sides met to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need to prevent the Israel-Gaza war from spreading across the region, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Blinken emphasised the “continued US commitment to securing lasting regional peace that ensures Israel’s security and advances the establishment of an independent Palestinian state”, Miller said in a statement.

The Biden administration has insisted that Israel help forge a realistic path to a Palestinian state, arguing that Israel’s yearslong security policy on the Palestinians appears to have failed, as seen by the scale of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7. Establishing a Palestinian state is a longstanding policy goal of the United States, but efforts toward achieving it had ebbed since the Obama administration.

The two officials also spoke about the civil war in Sudan and “preventing further widespread civilian harm” there, Mr. Miller said.