Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday he agreed with the State Department’s interim report, which declared a “reasonable assessment” that Israel violated international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.
“If you think about the totality of what we have seen in terms of civilian suffering, in terms of children, women and men killed and injured in Hamas crossfire, in many cases Israel is an international “It’s fair to say that they did not act in accordance with humanitarian law,” Blinken said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“Our assessment continues,” he added, stressing that the ministry had not yet reached a “final conclusion.”
Bricken explained that Israel has its own internal process for investigating alleged violations.
He also defended the Biden administration’s controversial decision to halt the shipment of about 3,500 bombs to Israel during the fight against Hamas.
On Friday, the State Department withdrew its humanitarian assessment report, but stopped short of offering any final conclusions or recommendations.
“Israel has the ability, the means, and the actions to self-correct,” Blinken said.
During a recent interview with TV’s “Dr.” By Phil McGraw, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that approximately 16,000 civilians have been killed along with 14,000 terrorists during the war with Hamas.
Blinken acknowledged that the United States shares Israel’s assessment that more civilians are killed than terrorists.
“There is a gap between the stated intentions and the results we have seen so far, because it is very complex… hiding civilian infrastructure and behind civilians to make the final decisions. In the middle of a war with hidden enemies,” Blinken said. .
President Biden last week halted U.S. shipments of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over a conflict with U.S. allies over a planned invasion of Rafah, the southern city of Gaza that is believed to be Hamas’ last stronghold and is densely populated with civilians. confirmed the report.
The White House’s move sparked a wave of backlash from Republicans as well as some Democrats, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
“No president has done more to protect Israel at a time when it really mattered than Joe Biden,” Blinken declared. “He was in Israel for several days starting on October 7th. He is the first American president to visit Israel in the midst of a war.”
“When Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel by launching 300 projectiles, including ballistic missiles, the United States participated in Israel’s active defense for the first time.”
Blinken explained that the suspension of arms shipments to Israel is limited to large bomb loads.
“The only thing we’re delayed and delayed by is these high payloads. [most powerful] “Given the impact these weapons would have if used in populated areas, we have ongoing dialogue with Israel that there is no need to use bombs,” the Secretary of State said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long promised to storm Rafah, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled wartime fighting in the north and settled in tents.
Some estimates put the number of Gazan refugees in Rafah at 1.5 million, some of whom Israel has since sought to evacuate.
Given the large number of civilians, the Biden administration is demanding from Israel a credible plan to protect refugees on the ground before the Jewish state launches a large-scale ground operation.
“We also need to see a plan for what happens after the conflict in Gaza ends,” Blinken said Sunday. “We have the same objectives as Israel. We want to prevent Hamas from occupying Gaza. We want to ensure demilitarization.”
Blinken also briefly mentioned the war in Ukraine to repel the Russian invaders, estimating that delays in about $61 billion in U.S. aid to Kiev were leading to significant setbacks on the battlefield.
“There is no doubt that the months-long delay in approving supplementary budget requests and shipping equipment to Ukraine has taken a toll,” he said. “We are doing everything in our power to expedite this assistance.”
