The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has applied the greatest pressure yet on the Israeli government to rethink its strategy in Gaza, calling for localised humanitarian pauses and insisting Israel cannot achieve long-term security solely through military means.
With more than 9,000 Palestinians declared dead in Gaza by the Hamas-run health authorities from the Israeli bombardment, the US’s top diplomat said more needs to be done to “protect Palestinian civilians” in Gaza and that, without that, it risks destroying an eventual possibility for peace.
“There will be no partners for peace if they’re consumed by humanitarian catastrophe and alienated by any perceived indifference to their plight,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday, calling for “substantially and immediately” increasing humanitarian assistance and humanitarian pauses to protect civilians while allowing Israel to defeat Hamas. Israel launched its attack on the territory after Hamas’s murderous rampage on 7 October that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
After meetings with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials, Blinken said: “The best path, perhaps the only one, is that of two states for two peoples. It is the only way to ensure lasting security, and the only way to ensure that the Palestinians realise their legitimate aspirations.”
Netanyahu, who did not make public remarks with Blinken, as on previous visits, said there would be no temporary ceasefire until all hostages held by Hamas were released.
Blinken’s remarks reflect longstanding US government policy but clearly diverge from the official position of the Israeli coalition government that opposes a two-state solution. In a sign that he sees it not just in the long term but part of ending the fighting, he said work on it must begin “not tomorrow, not after today, but today”.
Blinken also expressed his support for Israel’s “right and obligation to defend itself, defend its people and take the steps necessary to try to ensure that this never happens again”.
He described being moved by additional video he had been shown in Israel of violent and deadly acts by the Hamas militants who carried out the attack. “It is striking, and in some ways shocking, that the brutality of the slaughter has receded so quickly in the memories of so many, but not in Israel and not in America,” he said.
At the same time, he said he was also shaken by images of dead and wounded Palestinian children in Gaza. “When I see that, I see my own children. How can we not?”
Blinken said he had spoken to Israeli leaders about “tangible steps that can be taken to increase the sustained delivery of food, water, medicine, fuel, and other essential needs while putting in place measures to prevent diversion by Hamas and other terrorist groups. We’ve identified mechanisms to enable fuel to reach hospitals and other needs in the south.”
He said Israel had raised legitimate concerns but he said the current flow of trucks – 100 a day – is not enough and he was confident that number would rise. He also said discussions were under way about humanitarian pauses being linked to the release of hostages.
His intervention came as one of the Arab world’s most iconic figures, the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, told a rally of supporters that the Middle East was locked in “a historic decisive battle without precedent” and a wider war was realistic. “What comes after will not be the same as what came before.”
Israeli and Hezbollah forces have been exchanging fire over Israel’s northern border. Nasrallah said the fighting would not be limited to its current scale and would mount day by day but set no specific deadline by which Israeli troops will leave Gaza before he launches an all-out war.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned in a video message that any such move from Nasrallah would bring “unimaginable loss” to Hezbollah.“Our forces are operating in all sectors and with full strength. Our victory will be decisive and clear. It will send a message to our enemies, a message that will echo through the generations.”
Hezbollah is the fulcrum of the axis of resistance funded by Iran, and can strike strategic targets in Israel-airbases, seaports and power plants with pinpoint accuracy. Fired en masse, Hezbollah hopes its “dumb” rockets may overwhelm Israeli air defences such as Iron Dome, which already have to contend with continued launches from Gaza.
The day after the Hamas attack, Hezbollah launched a salvo of rockets into the occupied territories of Shebaa, and ever since the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel has gradually increased in size on both sides.
