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Blinken: Israel Must Boost Gaza Aid 04/29 06:14
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
Monday that Israel must still do more to increase the flow of humanitarian aid
into the besieged Gaza Strip and that he would use his current Middle East trip
-- his seventh to the region since the Israel-Hamas war started in October --
to press that case with Israeli leaders.
Speaking to Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers in Riyadh, Blinken
said best way to ease the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza would be to conclude
an elusive cease-fire agreement that would release hostages held by Hamas. But,
in the meantime, he said it was critical to improve conditions now.
"The most effective way to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to
alleviate the suffering of children, women and men, and to create space for a
more just and durable solution is to get a cease-fire and the hostages out," he
said.
"But we're also not waiting on a cease-fire to take the necessary steps to
meet the needs of civilians in Gaza," Blinken said. He said that because
President Joe Biden has been insisting that Israel do more, including in his
phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, there had
been improvements, although not nearly enough.
"We have seen measurable progress in the last few weeks, including the
opening of new crossings and increased volume of aid delivery to Gaza and
within Gaza, and the building of the U.S. maritime corridor, which will open in
the coming weeks. But it is not enough. We still need to get more aid in and
around Gaza," he said.
"We need to improve deconfliction with humanitarian assistance workers. And
we have to find greater efficiency and greater safety and deconfliction is at
the heart of that. And, finally we have to make sure that we're focusing not
just on inputs, but on impact."
Scores of relief workers have been killed since the conflict began, and a
deadly Israeli attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza this month
only highlighted the dangers and difficulties of protecting them. Israel has
said the strike was a mistake and has disciplined officials involved.
World Central Kitchen says it would resume operations in Gaza on Monday
after a four-week suspension.
The war has ground on since Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel with
little end in sight: more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, hundreds
of thousands more are displaced and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening.
The conflict has fueled mass protests around the world that have spread to
American college campuses. U.S. support for Israel, particularly arms
transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is
keenly aware poses potential problems for Biden in an election year.
Blinken's trip comes amid renewed concerns about the conflict spreading in
the Middle East and with once-promising prospects for Israeli-Saudi
rapprochement effectively on hold as Israel refuses to consider one of the
Saudis' main conditions for normalized relations: the creation of a Palestinian
state.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been warning Israel against a major
military operation on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a
million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting further north. Israel has not
yet launched such an offensive, but Netanyahu has repeatedly said that one will
take place, asserting that it is the only way to wipe out Hamas.
Both topics were discussed during the Biden-Netanyahu phone call on Sunday,
according to the White House and U.S. officials.
During his trip, Blinken said he would also underscore the absolute
importance of not allowing the Israel-Hamas conflict to engulf the region.
The danger of conflagration was underscored this month when a suspected
Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria prompted an
unprecedented direct missile and drone response by Iran against Israel. An
apparent retaliatory Israeli strike on Iran followed.
Although the tit-for-tat cycle appears to have ended for now, deep concerns
remain that Iran or its proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria or Yemen could act in
such a way as to provoke a greater response from Israel or that Israel might
take action that Iran feels it must retaliate for.
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