Last Updated: November 03, 2023, 18:20 IST
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, during his visit to Israel, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel November 3, 2023. (Reuters)
During his third visit since war, Blinken said Israel has the right to make sure that this October 7 never happens again
US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Friday backed Israel, saying that the Jewish country has the “right and obligation” to defend itself as it continues to strike the Gaza Strip with an air and ground assault. “We stand strongly for the proposition that Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and to do everything possible to make sure that this, October 7, can never happen again,” Blinken was quoted as saying by CNN in Tel Aviv.
Standing alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken told journalists, “How Israel does this matters. And it is very important that when it comes to the protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas’ making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it, and were not in any way responsible for what happened on October 7. So we’re working on all of that together.”
Soon after Blinken landed in Israel, he held separate meetings with Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the meetings, Blinken urged Israel to protect civilians who are caught in the crossfire and to “bring assistance to those who so desperately need it”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are meeting for the third time since the outbreak of the war, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv. They met privately and are now holding an expanded meeting together with the War Cabinet. pic.twitter.com/Y3A3lPj24I— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 3, 2023
Before his arrival in Israel, the top US diplomat said he would seek “concrete steps” from Israel to ensure harm to Palestinian civilians is reduced. “We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimise harm to men, women, and children in Gaza,” Blinken had told reporters before departing for Israel. “This is something that the United States is committed to.”
US President Joe Biden has promised full support and ramped-up military aid to Israel for its campaign in Gaza but has also voiced support for Palestinian casualties in the densely populated conclave. “I think we need a pause,” Biden said on Thursday at a campaign event.
Israel launched a massive retaliatory assault against Gaza’s Hamas rulers after its fighters carried out the October 7 attack in which 1,400 people were killed. More than 9,200 people have been killed in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby later clarified what such a pause would entail. “A humanitarian pause… is temporary, localised and focused, focused on a particular objective or objectives, humanitarian aid in, people out,” Kirby told reporters.
Earlier this week, around 800 people, including hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports and dozens of injured, have been allowed to leave the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing under an apparent agreement among the U.S., Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas. Israel has allowed more than 260 trucks carrying food and medicine through the crossing, but aid workers say it’s not nearly enough. Israeli authorities have refused to allow fuel in, leaving hospitals with dwindling supplies.
(With agency inputs)
