According to U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the Biden administration would like to see a new extension of the truce in Israel’s war with Hamas after the current one expires.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, Blinken stated that the U.S is “sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza to make sure its people have what they need to get by.”
“Looking at the next couple of days, we’ll be focused on doing what we can to extend the pause so that we continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in,” he noted.
The ongoing truce, if not extended again, expires later Wednesday.
Also, the U.S Secretary of State stated that his country will discuss with Israel how it [Israel] can achieve its objective to ensure “the terrorist attacks of October 7 never happen again” while sustaining increasing humanitarian assistance and minimising further suffering and casualties among Palestinian civilians.
“We’ll keep our efforts going to prevent the conflict from spreading and we’ll remain focused on enabling safe departure of American citizens and other foreign nationals from Gaza.”
Antony Blinken
Blinken said that in addition to discussing short-term logistical and operational planning, the Biden administration deems it imperative to discuss ideas about the future governance of Gaza if Israel achieves its stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
“Everyone’s focused on the day of, on what’s happening in Gaza right now, but we also need to be focused at the same time- and we are in conversations with many other countries- on what I call the ‘day after’ and ‘the day after the day after’: I mean, what happens in Gaza once the campaign is over?”
Antony Blinken
He noted, “We’ll work to build upon principles that I set out in Tokyo a few weeks ago, for the day after in Gaza and to find the steps that we and our partners can take in the region now to lay the foundation for a just and lasting peace.”
Israel and Arab nations have resisted such discussions about future governance, with Israeli officials concentrating on the war and Arab leaders insisting the immediate priority must be ending the fighting that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Blinken Asserts U.S Support For Ukraine
At the press briefing, U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken also assured Ukraine that it still has the support of the U.S.
Blinken said, “We focused on NATO’s enduring support for Ukraine, I have to tell you all of our colleagues around the table, every single one, expressed strong and enduring support for Ukraine.
“Some are questioning whether the U.S and other Western allies should continue to stand with Ukraine as we enter the second winter of Putin’s brutality. The answer here today at NATO is clear and unwavering. We must and we will continue to support Ukraine.”
Antony Blinken
Blinken sought to counter those within the U.S who have claimed the country is providing more than its fair share to Ukraine and called for a reduction in financial and military aid.
“The United States is not standing alone,” he said.
He noted, “We’ve provided about $77bn in assistance to Ukraine. Our European allies, over the same period of time, have provided more than $110bn.
“We often talk about burden sharing and the imperative of burden sharing. When it comes to Ukraine, that’s clearly what we’ve seen and what we continue to see,” he added.
“Ensuring that Russia’s war of aggression remains a strategic failure is as vital today as it was when the Kremlin launched that war almost two years ago,” Blinken stressed.
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