US Secretary of State Blinken Stresses Solidarity With Israel, Highlights Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis
During a press conference following a day of high-level meetings with top Israeli officials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the “truly exceptional” relationship between the two countries and stressed the US supports Israel’s efforts to ensure something like Hamas’ October 7 attack “can never happen again,” while also reemphasizing his concern regarding the humanitarian crisis affecting the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Before speaking to the press Tuesday night, Blinken met with a cadre of Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog, in addition to the War Cabinet, including Benny Gantz, leader of Israel’s National Unity party and a member of the current wartime coalition government.
Blinken also met with the families of Israeli American citizens still held by Hamas in Gaza, encouraging them to continue advocating for their loved ones in the media and pushing for their release, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Speaking sympathetically of the civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire, Blinken said that more needed to be done for the hundreds of thousands of Gazans currently facing “acute food insecurity,” citing the United Nations estimate that 90% of the population lacked access to sufficient food. He stressed the need for Israel to ensure that “more food, more water, more medicine, and other essential goods” reach the enclave’s population “safely and securely.”
Blinken underscored the US’s understanding of the difficulties associated with battling insurgents in a dense urban environment, acknowledging that Hamas concealing its fighters amongst the populace and firing “from schools and hospitals” put the Israeli military in an extremely difficult situation.
“But the daily toll on Gazans, particularly on children, is far too high,” he added.
Blinken dismissed South Africa’s genocide charges against Israel in the International Court of Justice, describing the act as “meritless” and “particularly galling” given that “Hamas, Hizbullah, the Houthis, and their supporter Iran continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.”
The speech comes off the back of the secretary’s weeklong trip to the Middle East, which included stops in Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Cairo, and the Palestinian territories. Referencing these meetings, Blinken said during the press conference that each ally that he met with was committed to preventing a larger regional conflict from emerging. He also added that many of the Arab leaders he worked with were willing to allocate substantial financial resources to rebuilding Gaza, but that they, as well as the US, needed to see the negotiation process for a Palestinian state resumed in the aftermath of the war.
