US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was working “very aggressively” to increase the amount of aid to civilians in Gaza, after holding two-and-a-half hours of one-on-one talks in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss options Relief went to the humanitarian toll of the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel-Hamas War: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the media about his meetings with Turkish counterparts. (Portal) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
“We are, as I said, working very vigorously to bring more humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and we have very concrete ways to do that,” Antony Blinken said, adding: “I think we will see in the coming days that assistance can be expanded in a significant way.”
The senior US diplomat said a “pause could help” ensure more aid reaches civilians, saying: “We know the great concern here (in Turkey) about the terrible casualties … in Gaza and its civilians , a concern we share We work on it every day. We are engaging the Israelis about the steps they can take to minimize civilian casualties.”
On humanitarian aid in Gaza, Antony Blinken said: “We have made good progress in the last few days in expanding aid to Gaza,” as he concluded a grueling diplomatic trip to the Middle East after helping to build regional consensus create had only limited success. Before leaving Turkey, he said: “It’s all a work in progress. Of course we don’t agree on everything, but there are common views on some of the current requirements that we are working on together.”
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“We have spoken to the Israelis about what steps they can take to minimize civilian casualties. As I said, we are working very energetically to bring more humanitarian aid to Gaza. “We are very focused on the hostages held by Hamas, including Americans, and are doing everything we can to bring them home,” he said.
This comes as Israeli troops are expected to enter the city of Gaza and are likely to encounter militants fighting street by street in a vast network of tunnels, as casualties mounted in the months-long war that has already killed more than 9,700 Palestinians and more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel.
However, Antony Blinken did not meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been highly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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