US State Secretary Antony Blinken, who
is on a visit to Israel, stressed that his immediate focus is working with its
partners to extend the pause, to continue to get more hostages released out of
Gaza.
Noting that he has come to Israel once
again, to advance several goals, Blinken said, “Our immediate focus is working
with our partners to extend the pause so that we can continue to get more
hostages out of Gaza and more assistance in.”
Underscoring that today is the seventh
day of the humanitarian pause in Gaza, he said US worked closely with Israel,
Qatar, and Egypt to put it in place.
Blinken further emphasised that there
are scores of family here in Israel, US, and around the world whose loved ones
continue to be held captive and who are desperate to get them home safely.
“We will not stop working until we get
every hostage back home with their families and loved ones,” he stressed.
At the same time, he said, US continue
to surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
“Together with the UN, our partners in
the region, we have significantly increased the flow of food, water, medicine,
fuel to power desalination plants, hospitals, and other critical
infrastructure,” he said.
Blinken highlighted, “Sustaining and
increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, in particular fuel, restocking stores
with commercial goods – these are vital to the lives and livelihoods and
well-being of men, women, and children.”
He further reinstated that Israel has
the right to do everything it can to ensure that the slaughter Hamas carried
out on October 7 can never be repeated, stressing, “Hamas cannot remain in
control of Gaza. It cannot retain the capacity to repeat that carnage.”
Blinken further recalled the appalling
terrorist attack on people waiting at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Thursday,
which killed three Israeli civilians and wounded at least six others, including
two American citizens.
Moreover, Hamas has claimed
responsibility for that attack and called its perpetrators heroic, Blinken
said.
Noting his meetings with Israeli
officials, he said, “In my meetings today with the Prime Minister and senior
Israeli officials, I made clear that before Israel resumes major military
operations, it must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that
minimize further casualties of innocent Palestinians.”
Praising Israel’s military, Blinken said,
“It is capable of neutralizing the threat posed by Hamas while minimizing harm
to innocent men, women, and children. And it has an obligation to do so.
Ultimately, that’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also in Israel’s
security interest. The PM and members of the war cabinet agreed with the need
for this approach.”
Moreover, US State Secretary highlighted,
“We have no illusions this is going to be easy. We will surely have
disagreements along the way,” he said, adding, “But if we’re going to move
forward on practical steps toward lasting peace, lasting security, we have to
be willing to work through those disagreements, because the alternative – more
terrorist attacks, more violence, more innocent suffering – is unacceptable.”
ANI
