Israel mustn’t lose sight of the humanity of the Palestinians in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he urged the government to do more to protect civilians in the enclave.
“Israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7. The hostages have been dehumanized every day since, but that can not be a license to dehumanize others,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night.
In his conversations with Israeli officials earlier in the day he spoke of the high fatality count, as Hamas asserted that over 27,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has said that over 9,000 of those are combatants.
“The daily toll that [Israel’s] military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high,” Blinken said.
“We urge Israel to do more to help civilians knowing full well that it faces an enemy that would never hold itself to those standards.
“An enemy that cynically embeds itself among men, women, and children and fires rockets from hospitals, schools, mosques [and] residential buildings,” Blinken said.
“An enemy whose leaders surround themselves with hostages. An enemy that has declared publicly its goal to kill as many innocent civilians as it can simply because they are Jews. and to wipe Israel off the map,” Blinken said.
He spoke four months after the Hamas-led attack against southern Israel in which over 1,200 people were killed and another 253 were seized as hostages.
US clear Israel is justified
The US has “made clear that Israel is fully justified in confronting Hamas and other terrorist organizations.” Blinken said.
“The US has done more than any other country to support Israel’s right to ensure that October 7 never happens against,” he said.
Blinken stressed, however, that “the overwhelming majority of the people in Gaza had nothing to do with October 7,” Blinken said. To help increase humanitarian aid, Israel should expedite assistance from Jordan, and open up the Erez crossing so goods can more quickly enter northern Gaza, Blinken said. The deconfliction mechanisms should be strengthened and the delivery of aid should not blocked, he added.
The families in Gaza whose survival depends on the aid, are just like our families, he said. “Their mothers and fathers want to earn a decent living send their kids to school and have a normal life. That is who they are. That is what they want. We can not, we must not lose sight of that. We can not, we must not lose sight of our common humanity,” he said.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren attacked Blinken for his words.
When Blinken “accuses Israel—inaccurately, unfairly, and libelously—of dehumanizing Palestinians, he dehumanizes us and contributes to the delegitimization of Israel and the demonization of Jews worldwide.
“Thank you, Secretary Blinken, for resupplying us with ammunition and standing up for our right to self-defense, but without legitimacy, we will be hard-pressed to use that ammo or exercise that right. Dehumanizing us endangers our security and possibly our existence,” Oren stated.
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