U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken has vowed that the United States will not support Israel’s proposed major military operation in Rafah without an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed.
“And no, we have not seen such a plan. And at the same time, there are other ways – and in our judgment, better ways – of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not involve or require a major military operation in Rafah. We’ve been talking with the Israelis about that; we’ll continue those conversations,” Blinken said at a press conference in Ashdod after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Another round of Israeli military operation is imminent on the Rafah area in southern Gaza, where more than 1.2 million people are now sheltering with limited access to food, medical care and other services and with nowhere safe to go.
Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel has already begun evacuating civilians in Rafah and that “there [would] be an operation there soon.”
He also said that Israeli forces would enter Rafah with or without a deal.
Blinken said he and Netanyahu discussed “the hostage deal that’s on the table that would produce an immediate ceasefire, get the hostages home, alleviate suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and also give us something to build on for the future to get to durable peace and security.”
He said Israel has made very important compromises in the proposal that’s on the table, and it is for “Hamas to decide whether it will take this deal and actually advance the situation for the people that it purports to care about in Gaza”.
The White House said there has not yet been a response from Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Blinken claimed “meaningful progress” in providing humanitarian assistance to Civilians in Gaza in recent weeks.
“One of the remaining challenges is making sure that when assistance gets through it can be effectively distributed within Gaza, and we have to make sure that it’s not interfered with or impeded by Hamas,” he told reporters.
UN aid coordination office OCHA reported that Israeli authorities blocked or excessively delayed the passage of three quarters of all UN-coordinated aid missions to areas requiring coordination across Gaza on Monday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA.
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