A few days ago, the United Nations General Assembly called, by an overwhelming majority, for a humanitarian truce to be implemented immediately between Israel and the Hamas movement and demanded the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and the protection of civilians. Later, international pressure increased to push for this path, coinciding with the ongoing Israeli air strikes on the Strip, which suffers from A massive humanitarian crisis.
The US State Department spokesman specified his country’s position on calls to impose a humanitarian truce on a number of points, saying:
* At the current stage, we do not believe that the time is right for a truce, as a truce now may give Hamas the opportunity to reorganize its ranks and plan more attacks.
* However, we support temporary humanitarian periods of cessation of hostilities, which enable the saving of civilian lives, the entry of aid, and the removal of the wounded.
* We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian deterioration in Gaza, and we strive to open humanitarian corridors to Gaza and facilitate the provision of continued assistance to civilians there, including food, water and medical care.
* But we also stress that Israel has the right to defend itself and fight Hamas, while emphasizing the need to respect international laws, especially with regard to the protection of civilians.
* In the same context, President Biden affirmed his support for temporary humanitarian periods to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, remove hostages, and provide safe corridors for civilians to obtain humanitarian support.
* In general, if a truce is agreed upon now, Hamas may be able to prepare to launch further operations, and it is not reasonable to expect any country to accept such circumstances.
White House officials said Thursday that Blinken, during his visit to Tel Aviv, will urge the Israeli government to agree to a series of short pauses in military operations in Gaza, to allow the safe release of hostages and the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Before heading to the Middle East, Blinken told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base: “We will talk about concrete steps that can and should be taken to reduce harm to men, women and children in Gaza,” stressing, “This is something the United States is committed to.”
“war crimes”
This comes at a time when the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights considered that the Israeli bombing of the Jabalia Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip “may amount to war crimes.”
A UNHCR post on the X platform said: “Given the large number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following the Israeli air strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.”
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