Published December 1, 2023
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Mideast this week pressing for agreements to extend the Gaza cease-fire, step up the release of hostages held by Hamas and limit Palestinian civilian casualties if fighting with Israel resumed. He left Friday with his goals largely unfulfilled.
Blinken wrapped up his third Middle East tour since the Israel-Hamas war started in October with decidedly mixed results. He watched as the seven-day cease-fire agreement collapsed under new Hamas attacks and Israeli airstrikes.
And, it remained uncertain if Israel would follow through on commitments to protect Palestinian civilians from military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, as he warned they should, or whether Hamas would engage in future hostage negotiations.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: ‘Iran-Loving, Hamas-Appeasing Buffoon’ Blinken Blasted for Trying to Limit Israel’s War Against Hamas
Published December 1, 2023
Given we already know that Joe Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken is woefully inept, we can forgo making the point — and instead start with explaining why one critic of the secretary just added “Iran-loving, Hamas-appeasing” adjectives to describe Blinken’s buffoonery, in this particular case.
As we reported on Thursday, leaked remarks from a private meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his war cabinet, and Blinken revealed that the Biden Administration — with Blinken as the mouthpiece — told Israel it could not operate militarily in southern Gaza the way the Israeli Defense Forces have operated in the north in the aftermath of the horrific Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
Bizarrely, Blinken reportedly told Netanyahu and company that Israel doesn’t have “the credit” to continue destroying Hamas, but rather, it only has weeks. Via the Times of Israel:
You can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north. There are two million Palestinians there. You need to evacuate fewer people from their homes, be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities, and ensure that there are enough protected areas [for civilians]. And if not? Then not to attack where there is a civilian population.
“What is your system of operation?” Blinken arrogantly asked IDF Chief Herzi Halevi.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.redstate.com
RELATED: Blinken said to warn war cabinet Israel may not have months to topple Hamas
US diplomat says Israel must change way it is fighting, set up safe zones, avoid hospitals, UN facilities: ‘Massive loss of civilian life’ in north Gaza must not be repeated in south
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.(Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Published December 1, 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel’s war cabinet on Thursday that it likely doesn’t have months to wage war against Hamas in Gaza, as domestic and international pressure mounts on US President Joe Biden’s administration to draw an end to the fighting, an Israeli official said.
The warning was one of several issued by the top US diplomat during his meeting with the war cabinet and in separate sit-downs with top officials. At a press conference, he also publicly cautioned Israel at considerable length against allowing the same scale of death and displacement in southern Gaza once fighting shifts there from northern Gaza.
During Thursday’s war cabinet meeting, ministers reportedly pushed back on some of Blinken’s concerns regarding how Israel has prosecuted the campaign, saying that the IDF follows the laws of war and has taken steps to avoid civilian casualties.
At one point in the meeting, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant noted that the Israeli public is united behind the goal of dismantling Hamas, even if it takes months, the Israeli official said.
READ FULL ARTICLE
SOURCE: www.timesofIsrael.com
