Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday gave one of his most direct condemnations of the civilian death toll in Gaza and said more needs to be done to “minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
Although Blinken commended Israel for its announcement of daily military pauses in areas of Northern Gaza and two evacuation corridors, he said that “there is more that can and should be done to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
The top US diplomat has subtly shifted his messaging in the days since he departed the Middle East earlier this week to more directly voice condemnation of the civilian toll in Gaza and the US’ expectations for the Israeli government. However, he still has not condemned the Israeli government offensive and has continually voiced support for its right to defend itself.
That’s true. There are now half a million extremist settlers in the West Bank who were allowed to build homes there in violation of international law. The US did nothing even though this has made the idea of a Palestinian state effectively impossible. That was Netanyahu’s plan to create “facts on the ground”
Strange how the right to self defense doesn’t extend to Palestinians being ethnically cleansed out of the West Bank.