U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week, said talks will focus on pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, releasing hostages held by Palestinian militants and planning for a post-war Gaza.
Blinken told reporters during a visit to the Philippines on Tuesday that arrangements needed to be made on how to deal with governance, security, humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza.
Blinken said the United States had made clear to Israel the need for a plan and hoped the conflict would end soon.
On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. According to Israeli statistics, the attack killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages. Subsequently, Israel continued to carry out operations to eliminate the Hamas armed organization. Parts of infrastructure and homes have been razed to the ground.
Gaza’s health ministry said Israel’s counteroffensive has killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. More than half of Gaza’s population has been displaced.
Blinken described what he called the “horrendous humanitarian situation” in Gaza and cited a U.N. report that said the entire population needed humanitarian assistance.
“By the most respected measures, 100 percent of Gaza’s population is severely acutely food insecure,” Blinken said. “This is the first time an entire population has been so classified.”
Blinken expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure that an attack like the one on Oct. 7 never happens again, but he also said it was “absolutely Israel’s responsibility” to prioritize protecting civilians and helping those in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
Blinken blamed Hamas for the current situation in Gaza, saying the terrorist group had launched attacks against Israel and that the war could have been stopped if the group had laid down its weapons, not hidden behind civilians and released the hostages it still held.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for the first time in more than a month, expressing concern about Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza and its attack on the southern Israeli city of Rafah. New worries about ground attacks. Egypt border.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden told the Israeli leader on the call, “We all have a common goal of defeating Hamas, and we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to do that. “
Sullivan called Netanyahu’s plan to launch a ground offensive to “slam” Rafah a “mistake.” More than a million Palestinians have taken shelter in makeshift tents and buildings trying to protect themselves from the ravages of the war, with many abandoning their homes in northern Gaza on orders from the Israeli military as Israel continues its assault on the area.
Israel has pledged to move Palestinians in Rafah to an undisclosed location to ensure their safety before launching any attacks in the area, but has not publicly indicated the location.
At Biden’s request, Sullivan said Netanyahu agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington in the coming days, possibly early next week, to discuss Israel’s plans for an attack on Rafah and how to seek refuge there. of Palestinians with plans to provide security.
Sullivan said the United States had “every hope” Israel would not launch any attack on Rafah before discussions in Washington.
“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieve all the goals of the war: to eliminate Hamas, to free all our Hostages” and promised that Gaza would no longer pose a threat to Israel while providing necessary humanitarian assistance to help achieve these goals. “
Biden’s phone call with Netanyahu came as the U.S. leader expressed growing frustration with Israel’s war conduct, the mounting death toll of Palestinian civilians and the lack of humanitarian aid for Gaza’s starving people.
Negotiators from Israel and Hamas will travel to Qatar this week to once again try to agree a six-week ceasefire and release 40 of the approximately 100 hostages still held by Hamas in exchange for dozens imprisoned by Israel. Palestinians.
But Sullivan said of truce talks: “So far, this agreement has been more difficult to achieve than we had hoped.”
Some of the material in this report comes from Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP.
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