Blinken backs Israel at UNSC but says ‘humanitarian pauses must be considered’ to protect civilians

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday delivered a forceful protection of Israel’s army movements but mentioned that “humanitarian pauses must be considered” to protect civilians in Gaza — the management’s most powerful observation of a beef up for any form of halt in Israel’s efforts to vanquish Hamas.

“First, we all recognize the right and indeed the imperative states to defend themselves against terrorism. That’s why we must unequivocally condemn Hamas and its barbaric terrorist attack against Israel,” the secretary started in remarks at the United Nations Security Council, repeating one of the vital atrocities dedicated all through Hamas’ terrorist assault on Israel on Oct. 7.

“Parents executed in front of their children. Children executed in front of their parents. And so many taken hostage in Gaza,” he mentioned. “We have to ask — indeed, it must be asked — where’s the outrage? Where’s the revulsion? Where’s the rejection? Where’s the explicit condemnation of these horrors?”

While Blinken maintained that member states “must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such heart from repeating itself and said that every member of the U.N. has a “duty to denounce the member states that arm, fund and educate Hamas or some other terrorist team that carries out such horrific acts,” he then turned to ongoing efforts to protect civilian lives, emphasizing that Hamas is responsible for putting the innocent in harm’s way before issuing his strongest warning yet to Israel.

“Hamas must stop the usage of them as human shields,” he said. “Israel must take all conceivable precautions to keep away from hurt to civilians. It way way meals, medication and water and different help must go with the flow into Gaza and to the spaces other people want them. It way civilians must be in a position to get out of injury’s approach. It way humanitarian pauses must be regarded as for those functions.”

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby echoed Blinken’s sentiments during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.

“We have and can proceed to communicate to our Israeli opposite numbers in regards to the significance of averting and minimizing civilian casualties and respecting blameless lifestyles and attempting to save you collateral harm as they pass after legit Hamas goals,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

Asked to expand upon Blinken’s comments that “humanitarian pauses must be regarded as,” Kirby said, “We need to see all measure of coverage for civilians and pauses in operation is a device and a tactic that may do this for brief classes of time.”

“That isn’t the similar as pronouncing a ceasefire,” he added. “Again, at the moment, we imagine a ceasefire advantages Hamas, a normal ceasefire.”

Kirby said the difference between a humanitarian pause and a ceasefire is “a query of period and scope and measurement and that roughly factor.”

Previously, the State Department and other U.S. officials flatly rejected calls for any kind of ceasefire, arguing, as State Department spokesperson Matt Miller did Monday, that it would “give Hamas the facility to relaxation, to refit and to get able to proceed gazing terrorist assaults towards Israel.”

In his remarks, Blinken also detailed the administration’s efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading in the Middle East but emphasized the threat posed by Iran and promised the U.S. would not allow attacks on Americans to go unanswered.

“We are not looking for this warfare to widen, but if Iran or its proxies assault U.S. workforce any place, make no mistake: We will protect our other people. We will protect our safety, abruptly and decisively,” he vowed.

Blinken’s remarks followed U.N. Secretary-General António Gutteres delivering some of most forceful rhetoric on the Israel-Hamas war to date, demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer and facilitate the release of hostages.” His speech, especially his assertion that “the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” sparked immediate backlash from Israeli officials.

“The shocking speech by the Secretary-General at the Security Council meeting, while rockets are being fired at all of Israel, proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner,” Israel’s permanent representative to the UN wrote on X.

He added: “I call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words.”

While intensive, world negotiations have led to the discharge of 4 hostages captured via Hamas, an estimated 220 international nationals are nonetheless being held hostage via the crowd, in accordance to the Israel Defense Forces. Additionally, as many as 600 Americans are nonetheless being blocked via the U.S.-designated terrorist team from crossing into Egypt, in accordance to Biden management officers.