US calls for Israel to implement 'real and extended' humanitarian pauses in Gaza
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has called on Israel to make longer humanitarian pauses in Gaza, during a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“We need real and extended pauses in large parts of Gaza,” he told journalists on Wednesday. It is also essential that humanitarian measures are “fully implemented”. “And they must be sustainable, if they are to have any effect,” he said.
He argued that Israel has already taken steps to address the disastrous humanitarian situation. For instance, he refers to the combat breaks that took place during the polio vaccination campaign. That was a success because there were pauses in fighting “that lasted for days, not simply hours as is the case right now”, he said.
'Time to end the war'
Blinken also said Israel "has accomplished the goals that it set for itself" by taking out Hamas's leadership and preventing the organisation from launching another major attack like that of 7 October 2023. "This should be a time to end the war," he said.
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it was opening a new border crossing for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The Kissufim border post was reopened just before the expiry of a US deadline. Washington had given Israel a 30-day ultimatum to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip or face losing US military aid.
Blinken is on an emergency visit to Europe to discuss with allies how to support Ukraine in the run-up to Donald Trump’s presidency.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken talks to the press following a meeting at NATO's headquarters during a one-day visit to Brussels, 13 November 2024 © PHOTO NICOLAS TUCAT / POOL / AFP
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