Blinken Pledges US Will Deal With 'Grave' Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
Arab World
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat
Eleven days following fierce fighting between Israel and armed Palestinian factions in Gaza, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the humanitarian situation is “grave” in Gaza. “We’ve got to start now with dealing with the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, then reconstruction, rebuilding what's been lost, and, critically, engaging both sides in trying to start to make real improvements in the lives of people, so that Israelis and Palestinians can live with equal measures of security, of peace and of dignity,” Blinken said in an interview with ABC news. The US official is set to meet with Israeli and the Palestinian Authority officials in the occupied West Bank next Wednesday and Thursday, as part of Washington's efforts to build on the Gaza truce. Blinken said the US administration would support rebuilding efforts in Gaza without funding Hamas, by relying on trusted and independent parties. “I think what's the real challenge here is to help the Palestinians and particularly to help moderate Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority deliver better results for their people. And, of course, Israel has a profound role to play in that too,” he said. The US official said Hamas “has brought nothing but ruin to the Palestinian people,” adding that Israel has a right to defend itself. Meanwhile, US Security Council members unanimously agreed on a statement that called for full adherence to a ceasefire in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The statement received backing from the US delegation, which had blocked earlier drafts, only after the removal of a paragraph condemning the violence, a sensitive issue since it raised the question of blame. The statement, proposed by China, Norway, and Tunisia, recognized "the important role Egypt (and) other regional countries" played in it, as well as the Middle East Quartet, comprising the US, Russia, the European Union, and the UN. The Council reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where Israel and the Palestinians live side by side in peace with secure borders. It supported a call from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the international community to work with the UN to develop a "robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery." The devastating 11-day conflict claimed the lives of at least 242 Palestinians, including 66 children, while 12 people died in Israel, including one child.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2989116/blinken-pledges-us-will-deal-grave-humanitarian-situation-gaza
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