This trip is aimed at discussing with Arab partners post-war Gaza and to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take concrete and tangible steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Saudi leaders and hold a wider meeting with counterparts from five Arab states – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan – to further the discussions on what governance of the Gaza Strip would look like after the war, according to a senior State Department official.

Blinken is also expected to bring together Arab countries with the European states and discuss how Europe can help the rebuilding effort of the tiny enclave, which has been reduced to a wasteland in the six-month long Israeli bombardment, following Hamas’s brutal terror attack on Israel and its kidnapping of over 200 hostages to Gaza.

A group of European nations, including Norway, plan to recognize Palestinian statehood in conjunction with the presentation of an Arab state-backed peace plan to the United Nations.

“We can see by joining forces we can make this more meaningful. We really want to recognize the Palestinian state, but we know that is something you do once,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.

Blinkin’s trip comes as Egypt was expected to host leaders of Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Advancing regional security

In Saudi Arabia, the Secretary will participate in a Ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council to advance coordination on regional security, the State Department shared on Saturday in its plan for the trip.

At the World Economic Forum’s special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development, the Secretary will meet with US partners to ensure continued progress on climate change mitigation and global energy transition.

Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan after he visits Saudi Arabia, the State Department announced on Sunday. The US official will be in the region until May 1.

Conversations over Gaza’s rebuilding and governance have been going on for months with a clear mechanism yet to emerge.

The United States agrees with Israel’s objective to that Hamas needs to be eradicated and can no longer play a role in Gaza’s future but Washington does not want Israel to re-occupy the strip.

Instead, it has been looking at a structure that will include a reformed Palestinian Authority with support from Arab states.

Blinken will also discuss with Saudi authorities the efforts for a normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel, a mega deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments as well as nuclear cooperation.

In return for normalization, Arab states and Washington push for Israel to agree to a pathway for Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.

This is a developing story.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz (Likud) issued messages on the matter both to Israeli missions abroad and to Jewish organizations, suggesting that the latter work with local authorities to increase security.

He also spoke with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli on the issue.

The ICC has not issued any formal statement on pending action, since its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed in November 2023 that he was investigating the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem, including actions relating to the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7.

Israel has feared that Khan plans to issue arrest warrants in the near future, possibly even this week.

“We expect the [ICC] to prevent the issuance of arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials in the political and security echelons,” Katz said.

Israeli official condemns ICC warrants

“There is nothing more distorted than attempting to prevent Israel from defending itself against a murderous enemy openly calling for the destruction of the State of Israel,” the Foreign Minister explained as a referenced the IDF campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas.

“If the warrants are issued, they will harm the commanders and soldiers of the IDF and provide a morale boost to the terrorist organization Hamas and the axis of radical Islam led by Iran against which we are fighting,” he said.

Katz later posted on X that ”Arch-murderers like [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar are waiting in hope that the ICC at The Hague will judge Israel. What an absurdity.”

Israel Democracy Institute Senior Fellow and international legal expert Yuval Shany said that Khan could issue such warrants at this stage in the process.

If he does, Khan is also likely “to issue arrest warrants against leaders of Hamas,” Shany said.

Those against whom the warrants are issued are expected to surrender themselves to the court, and if they don’t, they have to avoid traveling to countries that could extradite them, Shany explained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a similar situation Shany said, given that the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him in March 2023 over his actions in Ukraine.

“He is very careful where he travels,” he said.

Ultimately, Shany said, those who fail to appear before the court would forfeit their right to appeal the indictment against them.

“But this is further down the road. We are still not there” yet, he stated.

Shany said that at present Israel is very much in the dark, given that no action has been taken and it does not know what charges would be detailed in the indictments.

If the warrant focuses on problems with humanitarian aid in Gaza that is one thing, he said. If it delves into the use of weaponry in Gaza, that is another thing, he added.

“It’s too soon to .. evaluate how deep is the hole in which the Israeli leadership finds itself,” Shany said.