US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed for a mechanism to allow for a series of humanitarian “pauses” to the Gaza War while in Israel on Friday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that any such step must be accompanied by the release of hostages.
“We need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday, in what he said was his fourth visit since the start of the Gaza War on October 7.
There are “tangible steps that can be taken to increase the sustained delivery of food, water, medicine, fuel, and other essential needs” while ensuring that these essential supplies are not diverted to Hamas’ military effort against Israel, Blinken said.
This effort would be “facilitated by humanitarian pauses,” he said, as he referenced an idea that is controversial for Israel. It has gained steam among some of those who fear that while a complete ceasefire would harm Israel and benefit Hamas they still want to see a break in the fighting.
Netanyahu going "full steam ahead"
Netanyahu in a brief address he delivered to the Israeli public after meeting with Blinken stated that “I made it clear that we are going full steam ahead” with the Gaza military campaign.
Israel has been determined to militarily oust Hamas from Gaza since the terror group infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,400 people and taking over 240 hostages, including foreign nationals.
“Israel refuses any temporary ceasefire that does not involve the release of the kidnapped Israelis. Israel is not allowing fuel into Gaza and objects to funds being transferred into the Strip,” Netanyahu said.
Blinken, however, said that his conversations with Israelis on Friday revolved in part around the concept of a pause in the hostilities which could provide security for Gaza civilians and allow for the more sustained entry of aid.
“That was an important area of discussion today with Israeli leaders,” Blinken said. While in Tel Aviv he spoke with Netanyahu and Herzog. He and his delegation also participated in a meeting of Israel’s war cabinet.
“A number of legitimate questions were raised in our discussions today, including how to use any period of pause to maximize the full humanitarian assistance, how to connect a pause to the release of hostages, how to ensure that Hamas doesn’t use these pauses or arrangements to its own advantage,” Blinken explained.
“We recognize this [mechanism] would take time to prepare and coordinate as well with international partners,” he added.
The Biden administration has been under pressure to insist on a full ceasefire as concern grows in the international community, including among democratic politicians in Washington over the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas has asserted that over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in war-related violence.
Blinken in Tel Aviv said he too was concerned. “I’ve seen images too of Palestinian children, young boys and girls, pulled from the wreckage of buildings. When I see that, when I look into their eyes through the TV screen, I see my own children. How can we not?”
Hamas, he acknowledged, is “cynically” exploiting its own humanitarian population and using them as human shields, but that does not mean that one can ignore the humanitarian plight of the Palestinians.
This is why it is important to provide a humanitarian response, Blinken said. Based on arrangements the US has worked out with Israel, Egypt, and the United Nations, there are now over 100 trucks of aid going into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing at Egypt, he said.
Blinken also referenced a mechanism to allow the exit of thousands of foreign nationals, who had been trapped in Gaza, including American citizens.
But more needs to be done, Blinken said.
”We need to substantially and immediately increase the sustained flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and getting American citizens and other foreign nationals out of Gaza.”
Blinken also spoke of his “acute” concern about rising settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and said he had secured a pledge from Israel to tackle the matter.
“What I heard today was a clear commitment from the government to deal with extremist violence in the West Bank – to condemn it, to take action to prevent it, to take action against those who perpetrate it,” Blinken said.
The US, he said, will look to ensure that Israel makes “good on that commitment.”
Despite the war, Blinken said, he focused part of his conversation on the importance of a plan for the day after the war ends, in which there is a vision for the future of Gaza which has been under forced Hamas control since 2007.
“There cannot and must not be a return to the pre-October 7 status quo” where Hamas continues to control Gaza, Blinken said, adding, “That’s unacceptable.”
Such a situation is “not tolerable for Israel; it shouldn’t be acceptable or tolerable by anyone else,” Blinken added.
At the same time Israel cannot resume control of Gaza, as it once did, he said, as he referred to the period from 1967-2005.
“It’s important to note that Israel has made clear it has no intention or desire to do that,” Blinken said.
The US is talking with Israel and its allies in the region about “what should follow once Hamas is defeated,” Blinken said, adding that the Biden administration is still seeking a regional peace architecture.
As part of that, the US is convinced that a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must follow the Gaza war.
“The best path, maybe even the only path, as I said, is through two states for two peoples. Again, that is the only way to ensure lasting security for a Jewish and democratic Israel, the only way to ensure that the Palestinians achieve their legitimate aspirations for a state of their own,” he said.