U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Friday that he urged Israel to temporarily cease its military operations in Gaza to allow aid into the Palestinian territory. However, he faced opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected any such pause unless Hamas releases the hostages.
During his second visit to the Middle East in less than a month, Blinken sought to balance U.S. support for Israel after Hamas's attack on October 7 with concerns over the rising death toll in Gaza due to Israeli bombings. The Biden administration has maintained its strong support for Israel while increasingly shifting its rhetoric towards enhancing humanitarian aid for Gaza and taking steps to avoid civilian casualties and facilitate the release of over 240 hostages held by Hamas.
Blinken called for a humanitarian ceasefire in a press conference, stating it would allow aid into Gaza and promote efforts for the hostage release while enabling Israel to achieve its objective of defeating Hamas. He mentioned discussing with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet on implementing such ceasefire periods, their duration, locations, and understandings. Blinken acknowledged that this would take time and require coordination with international partners.
His statements implied that any agreement with Israel remains challenging and that points of contention have yet to be resolved. In a press conference in Tel Aviv, Blinken remarked, "Several legitimate questions were raised in our discussions today, including how to use any ceasefire period to maximize humanitarian aid flow, how to link the ceasefire to the release of hostages, and how to ensure that Hamas does not exploit those ceasefire periods or arrangements for its benefit." He added that these are urgent issues that need to be addressed, and "we believe they can be solved."
Netanyahu, in a televised statement shortly after Blinken's remarks, stated, "I made it clear that we continue full force and that Israel rejects a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages." The U.S., like Israel, has rejected the growing international calls for a ceasefire.
This is Blinken's second visit to Israel following the Hamas attack, which Israel claims killed 1,400 individuals, leading to the most deadly escalation in years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gaza health authorities have reported that over nine thousand people have died since Israel launched its offensive on the territory.
Before his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken reiterated that Israel has the right to "do whatever it takes to ensure that such an attack never happens again." He mentioned that 100 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid enter Gaza daily through the Rafah crossing from Egypt but indicated that this is insufficient. Blinken stated, "I spoke with Israeli leaders about concrete steps that can be taken to continuously increase the delivery of food, water, medicines, fuel, and other basic necessities while implementing measures to prevent these supplies from being diverted to Hamas and other terrorist groups."
Another priority for Blinken is to ensure that the conflict does not spread. He spoke at the same time that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Washington that if Israel does not halt its assault on Gaza, the conflict could escalate into a regional war. Blinken insisted that the U.S. is committed to preventing the conflict from expanding to a second or third front and is dedicated to deterring aggression from any party. Responding to a question about the U.S. readiness to direct its regional combat power toward targets in Lebanon and Iran, Blinken affirmed, "Regarding Lebanon, regarding Hezbollah, and Iran, we have been very clear from the outset that we are determined not to open a second or third front in this conflict."
