United States: US State Secretary Antony Blinken was in no mood to mince his words when criticizing Israel for the fact its actions in the Gaza Strip.
He went on to say that Israel did not have a plan to protect civilian lives when they launched an expected attack on the city of Rafah, where more than 1. 2 million refugees, lives of which were turned upside down, settled to live in refugee camps.
What more did the US State Secretary say?
In an interview with CBS, Blinken said, “We believe two things,” where “One, you have to have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen. Second, we also need to see a plan for what happens after this conflict in Gaza is over, and we still haven’t seen that,” CNBC News reported.
Reasons for the Secretary’s harsh word
The comments of US officials came when there was ongoing tension in the relationship between Israel and its No. 1 ally, Israel. Last week, only the Biden administration confirmed of the news of pausing a shipment of 3,500 heavy-payload bombs to Isreal.
However, amid all the tension, the US president has confirmed that the support of US still remains “ironclad.”
What is the Israel supreme saying?
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ground result on Eafah was the only left choice in order to defeat the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is said to be operating the strip and had launched a merciless attack on Israel on October 7. The attack has reportedly killed around 1,200 people, and another 250 were taken as hostages.
According to Palestinian health authorities, overall, the Israel-Hamas war has killed over 34,000 people in Gaza.
Hamas is inevitably to strike back – US
Blinken said, “What are we seeing right now? We’re seeing parts of Gaza that Israel has cleared of Hamas where Hamas is coming back, including in the north, including in Khan Younis,” as CNBC News reported.
Furthermore, “As we look at Rafah [Israel] may go in and have some initial success, but potentially at an incredibly high cost to civilians, one that is not durable, one that is not sustainable, and they will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah,” he said.
He also warned that an insurgency imposed by the the militant group will only deteriorate the situation without any “day after” plan for Gaza in sight.
The State Department chief added, “Israel is on the trajectory potentially to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left, or, if it leaves, a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy, and probably refilled by Hamas again,” as CNBC News reported.
“We’ve been talking to them about a much better way of getting an enduring result, enduring security,” he said.