TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was left empty-handed again Friday after the Israeli prime minister rejected an American appeal to halt a promised ground invasion of the flooded southern city of Rafah in Gaza. left the Middle East. Together with the refugees.
The tough message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets the stage for potentially difficult talks between senior US government officials and a senior Israeli delegation in Washington next week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready to “act alone” in Rafah if necessary. Despite their differences, the Biden administration has provided significant military aid and diplomatic assistance, even as Israel’s war against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people in the Gaza Strip and worsened the humanitarian crisis. continues to provide.
World, UN tells civilians caught up in Gaza war no way out: ‘politically harmful’
Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last remaining stronghold and says it must defeat Rafah’s insurgents to achieve its war goals. Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas following its October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people, took 250 hostages, and triggered heavy Israeli air and ground attacks in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures during departure at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, March 22, 2024. (Evelyn Hochstein, pool photo, via AP)
But Rafah currently shelters more than 1 million homeless Palestinians who have fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza. The United States, along with much of the international community, believes that an Israeli ground invasion would endanger civilian lives and disrupt the flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory, much of which is routed through Rafah. Are concerned.
Netanyahu told Blinken that Israel was working on ways to evacuate civilians from the combat zone and address humanitarian needs in Gaza, the statement said. International aid officials say the entire population is suffering from food insecurity and starvation is imminent in the hard-hit north.
“I also said there is no way to defeat Hamas without joining Rafah,” Netanyahu said. “I told him that I would like to do this with the support of the United States, but that I would do it alone if necessary.”
Blinken, on his sixth trip to the Middle East since the start of the war, told reporters that the United States shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas.
“However, in our judgment, a large-scale ground operation in Rafah is not the way to achieve that, and we were clear about that,” he said, adding that Israel would become increasingly isolated if it forced. .
The impending invasion of Rafah casts a shadow on ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Blinken, who also met with Arab leaders during his trip this week, acknowledged that “there is still a lot of work to do.”
Blinken spoke shortly after the U.S.-led UN Security Council ceasefire resolution was vetoed by Russia and China. Blinken said it was “unimaginable” that the bill was defeated.
Rafa’s tension rises
The United States initially strongly supported Israel after the October 7 attack. However, as the war entered its fifth month, relations became increasingly strained.
Palestinian health authorities in the Gaza Strip said Friday that at least 32,070 people have been killed, at least two-thirds of them women and children. Israel claims that at least a third of the deaths were Hamas militants, and that the group operates hidden in residential areas and is responsible for civilian casualties.
The US position on Operation Rafah has changed in recent days. Officials wanted a plan to keep civilians out of harm’s way. They say there is currently no reliable way to do that.
“We risk killing more civilians. We risk further disruption to the delivery of humanitarian assistance. We risk further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardize its long-term security and position,” Blinken said. “There is,” he said.
U.S. officials argue that other options, such as specifically targeted operations against known Hamas fighters and commanders, are the only way to avoid a civilian catastrophe.
Roughly three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge in Rafah, the southernmost point before the Egyptian border. Currently, the city is dotted with vast tent camps.
The United States plans to share ideas for alternatives at a meeting next week when a delegation led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser and members of Israel’s war cabinet heads to Washington. Another member of the war cabinet, Israel’s defense minister, is also scheduled to visit.
Blinken said the talks would focus on postwar planning, another area of disagreement.
The United States wants the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which Hamas expelled from Gaza in 2007, to regain power in the region and chart a clear path to an independent Palestinian state bordering Israel. There is. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Palestinian independence and the role of the Palestinian Authority in administering parts of the occupied West Bank, saying Israel must maintain long-term security control of the Gaza Strip.
An elusive ceasefire
An international mediation body led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt is working towards a ceasefire to halt or end the war in Gaza.
Israel wants the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas, but Hamas wants an end to the war, not a pause, with Israeli forces withdrawing from Gaza. Hamas is calling on Israel to release a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
After meeting with Israeli leaders, Blinken met with families of American hostages. He then greeted a small group of protesters who had gathered outside the hotel in solidarity with his family.
Protesters chanted “Thank you, Blinken” as Mr. Blinken walked in front of the crowd. As he shook hands, he said the United States was “working to bring them home.”
Blinken told reporters there had been progress in recent weeks, but the last gap “tends to be the most severe.”
“There is still a lot of work to do and it will take a lot of effort,” he said.
He said they also discussed the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza towards these efforts. He said “some positive steps” had been taken in recent days. “But that’s not enough.”
Israel says it has no limits on the amount of humanitarian aid it allows into Gaza. But international aid groups say deliveries are being hampered by Israel’s military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and a breakdown in security.
So little food is brought into Gaza that up to 60% of children under the age of five are now malnourished, compared to less than 1% before the war, according to the World Health Organization. The Secretary-General made the announcement on Thursday.
UN resolution ‘cynically vetoed’
At the United Nations, Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored UN resolution supporting an “immediate and lasting ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war. Both countries called the move ambiguous and said it was not a direct call for an end to the fighting, which much of the world is calling for.
The vote at the 15-member Security Council was in favor of 11 members, including Algeria, the council’s Arab representative, and 3 members opposed. Guyana abstained.
The key issue was the unusual wording that the Security Council would “determine the urgency of an immediate and lasting ceasefire.” This expression was not a simple “request” or “call” to cease hostilities.
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It also appears to be softening, but not reversing, a previous US demand that Hamas release all hostages as part of a ceasefire.
Blinken said the measure had been “cynically vetoed” and should have been accepted.
“We tried to demonstrate the international community’s sense of urgency about achieving a ceasefire that would lead to the release of the hostages,” Blinken said. He also said he was trying to blame Hamas. “I can’t imagine why countries can’t do that.”
