Latest News
Blinken discusses ‘humanitarian pauses’ as Israel encircles Gaza City
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he discussed “humanitarian pauses” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose forces continue to hammer the Gaza Strip.
After arriving in Israel on Friday, the first stop in a trip to the region, Blinken emphasised US support for Israel but asked for steps to protect civilians and allow greater aid into Gaza.
“We believe that each of these efforts [to protect Palestinian civilians and increase aid into Gaza] would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses, by arrangements on the ground that increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance,” the top US diplomat told journalists.
The visit has come as Israeli troops encircle Gaza City after several days of intensifying ground operations in the strip, where it has pledged to dismantle the Palestinian armed group Hamas after a deadly attack on October 7 that Israel has said killed more than 1,400 people.
(Aljazeera)