Senior White House official set to travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel: Report

National security advisor Jake Sullivan plans to travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend, according to the Axios news outlet.

The White House is allegedly trying to dissuade Israel from launching a broad military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is sheltering more than one million Palestinians fleeing from the Israeli onslaught and now have nowhere to go.

Earlier this month it was reported that the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia are seeking to finalise an agreement for US security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance, even as an Israel-Saudi normalisation deal envisioned as part of a Middle East “grand bargain” remains elusive.

“We’re very close to reaching an agreement” on the US-Saudi portion of the package, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on 2 May.