In Israel on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “protect the civilian population” in the southern Gaza Strip if the ceasefire with the Palestinian Hamas ends and military operations resume.
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During their meeting in Tel Aviv, Mr. Blinken emphasized “the need to ensure the humanitarian needs and protection of civilians in the southern Gaza Strip before any military operation,” according to a State Department report. He also called on the Israeli judiciary to bring to justice “extremist settlers who commit acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.”
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, accompanied by a hostage exchange by the Palestinian Islamist movement for Palestinian prisoners, “has produced results,” Blinken said, hoping it “can continue.”
“The hostages have returned home, reunited with their families” and the ceasefire has also allowed “more humanitarian aid to reach innocent civilians in Gaza who urgently need it,” he said in Tel Aviv at a meeting with the Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“This process is producing results and we hope this continues,” he said.
On a diplomatic trip
The ceasefire, which came into effect for four days on Friday and has since been extended, has already allowed for the release of 70 Israeli hostages and 210 Palestinian prisoners.
In addition, around thirty foreigners or dual nationals, mostly Thais working in Israel, were released outside the scope of this agreement.
The Israeli president thanked the United States for “the immense work undertaken to release the hostages” and said that “approximately 150 remained in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.”
Upon his arrival on Wednesday night, Mr. Blinken also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and must travel to the occupied West Bank, where Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority is based.
This is Mr. Blinken’s third visit to the Middle East since the start of the war, which was sparked by Hamas’ bloody attack on Israeli soil on October 7 and left more than 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation, Israel, seeking to “destroy” Hamas, relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip until a ceasefire came into effect on November 24. According to the Hamas government, more than 15,000 people were killed there, including more than 6,000 under the age of 18.
“I look forward to detailed discussions with the Israeli government about how to proceed in Gaza,” Blinken said.
The United States, a steadfast ally of Israel that supports its response to Hamas, now fears that a resumption of fighting, and particularly its expansion into the south of the Gaza Strip, will trap the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have been displaced there what’s happening is the north.
Mr. Blinken called on Wednesday to “create the conditions for real, lasting peace.” The best way for us to get there is through the two states of Israel and Palestine.
He also expressed condolences after three people were killed and several others injured in a shooting attack by two Palestinians at a bus stop in West Jerusalem on Thursday morning, Israeli police said.
“Today’s events in Jerusalem remind us how Israel and Israelis face terrorism every day,” he said.