US State Secretary Antony Blinken said efforts to
bring humanitarian aid to Gaza have been “complicated” as terrorist group Hamas
continues to use civilians as “human shields” and is reportedly blocking roads
to prevent Palestinians from relocating to southern Gaza.
Terming the humanitarian situation as “urgent” Blinken
added US is actively engaged with its partners, including Qatar to provide
humanitarian aid to those who are in need. He noted that Israel is carrying out
operations in Gaza as Hamas carried out terrorist attacks that killed 1,300
Israelis in the “most horrific way.”
Taking to X, after a meeting with Qatari Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,
Blinken tweeted, “Met with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs @MBA_AlThani_ about the terrorist attacks in Israel and work to prevent
the conflict from spreading.”
Addressing a joint press briefing with Sheikh Mohammed
after the meeting, Blinken said, “Israel is conducting operations in Gaza
because Hamas carried out terrorist attacks that killed – in the most horrific –
way 1,300 of its people. Hamas terrorists slaughtered, raped, mutilated,
tortured, burned innocent civilians – from babies to the elderly, men, women,
boys, and girls.”
“Now, efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza are
complicated by the fact that Hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human
shields, and is reportedly blocking roads to prevent Palestinians from moving
to southern Gaza, out of harm’s way. We know the humanitarian situation is
urgent,” said the US Secretary.
“We’re actively engaged with partners, including
Qatar, to get aid to those who need it,” Blinken said.
“Israel has both the right and even the obligation to
defend its people and to do everything it can to ensure that what happened last
Saturday never happens again,” he said.
“I’ve also been making it clear in all of my
conversations throughout this trip that there can be no more business as usual
with Hamas,” Blinken said.
Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed said, “The priorities of
Qatar within the diplomatic approach is to seek a ceasefire, protect the
civilians, release the captives, and to work hard in order not to spread
violence in the region because this will have bad consequences.”
“We also changed our viewpoints regarding humanitarian
corridors to keep the assistances and aid reaching the Palestinians,
particularly within the deterioration of the situation in Gaza Strip,” said the
Qatari minister.
In his remarks, Blinken said US will ensure that
Israel has what it needs to defend itself as it continues to respond to Hamas’s
attack.
The US diplomat stated that the US is in constant
communication with Israeli officials, and multilateral and international
organizations to get aid to civilians in Gaza. He said that the US continues to
discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid
harming civilians.
Prior to arriving in Saudi Arabia, Blinken visited
Israel, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
ANI
