Blinken reiterates US stance on Gaza ceasefire, advocates for “humanitarian pauses”

AMMON (Jordan):  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the United States’ stance against an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during his meetings with key Middle Eastern leaders on Saturday, CNN reported.

Blinken expressed concerns that a premature ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup and attack Israel once again. This position has put the US at odds with its Arab partners, including those with whom he convened in Amman, Jordan.

Instead of endorsing a ceasefire, Blinken emphasised the importance of “humanitarian pauses,” a concept that has faced opposition from Israeli officials, as reported by CNN.

Blinken said he and his counterparts “all agreed on the importance of using our respective influence and capabilities to deter any state or non-state actor from opening another front in this conflict.”

“Throughout this conflict, countries across the Middle East and beyond have played an essential role in preventing its spread,” Blinken said at a news conference in Amman.

Blinken and his counterparts discussed the need to deter any state or non-state actor from expanding the conflict, with a shared commitment to preventing the Israel-Hamas war from escalating further. The US has been warning Israel’s adversaries, including Hezbollah, against widening the conflict into a broader Middle East war.

During a news conference in Amman, Blinken acknowledged the shared interests and objectives of the US and its Arab partners to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, even if they have differing views on how to reach that goal.

The top US diplomat also highlighted the importance of protecting Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, especially amid increasing attacks by Israeli settlers. He updated his counterparts on his talks with Israeli officials yesterday, where he said he “underscored that incitement and extremist violence must be stopped and perpetrators must be held accountable,” according to CNN.

The mass movement of people from the north of Wadi Gaza to the southern part of the enclave has added to the growing humanitarian challenges.

US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, David Satterfield, estimated that approximately 8,00,000 to a million individuals have relocated, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

“And those points of need are growing as individuals come increasingly to the south,” he added.

The ability to move assistance has scaled up exponentially, particularly in the last week, from “pretty much zero in terms of ability to move humanitarian assistance through the Rafah corridor into Gaza,” Satterfield said but reiterated that even the current number of aid trucks getting through the crossing per day is not sufficient.

Although the US believes the current daily flow of trucks into Gaza is sustainable, “it’s challenged by the environment on the ground in south Gaza,” Satterfield said, noting United Nations warehouses with basic supplies and food had been broken into early in the week.

“There was … an environment in Gaza, which allowed more normal commercial life, cooking gas, cooking oil, provisions, necessities of life to move in. That’s not the situation now,” he said.

Shelter is also a problem, he added.

“You’ve got 350,000 or 400,000 still in the north. If those individuals — some portion of them — come to the south, that’s going to increase the load, increase the demand even more,” he added, according to CNN.

Israel’s military has called on Gaza residents to move south while intensifying its operations in Gaza City and the northern part of the region. International aid organizations and human rights groups have criticised Israel’s evacuation calls, given the ongoing conflict and damaged infrastructure.

Foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Qatar, as well as the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, met with Blinken in Amman to discuss the situation.

Earlier in the day, Blinken met with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to address ongoing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

On Saturday morning, Blinken met with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss weeks-long tensions between Iran-backed Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah and Israel on the Israeli-Lebanese border, according to US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

A total of 9,425 individuals have lost their lives in Israeli offensives in Gaza since October 7, CNN reported on Saturday citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. An additional 24,000 people have been injured, according to the ministry’s data, which originates from sources within the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The report from the ministry reveals that nearly 73 per cent of the casualties belong to vulnerable groups, including children, women, and the elderly.
The latest figures indicate a stark increase in the death toll, with 270 more deaths reported on Saturday compared to the previous day, while the number of injured has risen by about 1,000.

The Israeli military continues to maintain a blockade and launch airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a cross-border terrorist attack initiated by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Despite calls for a ceasefire from Hamas, humanitarian organisations, and a substantial portion of the global community, Israel’s government has firmly rejected such appeals. They have committed to eliminating Hamas following the brutal attack last month, which claimed the lives of over 1,400 Israelis, the majority of whom were civilians, CNN reported. (ANI)