In a meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed “humanitarian pauses” for aid and reiterated US support for Palestinian state recognition.
After meeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken said that he had discussed the idea of “humanitarian pauses” to secure the release of hostages and to allow aid to be distributed to Gaza’s beleaguered population.
“We believe that each of these efforts would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses, by arrangements on the ground that increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance,” Blinken told journalists.
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Moreover, he reiterated Washington’s long-standing support for the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, “Two states for two peoples. Again, that is the only way to ensure lasting security for a Jewish and democratic Israel.”
Netanyahu, however, warned that there could be no “temporary truce” in Gaza unless Hamas releases the estimated 241 Israeli and foreign hostages it took during its October 7 attacks.
Both Israel and the United States have previously ruled out a blanket ceasefire, which they say would allow Hamas to regroup and resupply. Still, US President Joe Biden has backed “temporary, localized” pauses.
The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, also made a speech in which he blamed the United States for the conflict, as he broke weeks of silence amid concerns of a broader regional conflagration.
Gabriela De La Cruz, with AFP
