A U.S. envoy would travel to the Middle East to seek to calm tensions as he implored Israel to avoid civilian deaths, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
Hady Amr, the deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs, will travel to Middle East and meet both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, US officials said.
"He will urge on my behalf and on behalf of President Biden a de-escalation of violence," Blinken told reporters.
On his part, Blinken described scenes of dead Palestinian civilians, including children, as "harrowing".
The Biden administration earlier appealed to Israel to reroute a flashpoint parade in Jerusalem and prevent evictions of Palestinians in the holy city, the immediate trigger for the new round of violence.
Taking more nuance after the militantly pro-Israel administration of Donald Trump, Blinken renewed US support for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state.
"This violence takes us further away from that goal," Blinken affirmed. "We believe Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live with safety and security and will continue to engage with Israelis, Palestinians and other regional partners to urge de-escalation and to bring calm."
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