Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters
On May 10, 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement at a press conference at the State Department in Washington, United States.
CNN
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US officials on Sunday issued a stern warning against Israel’s invasion of Rafah, saying a massive ground attack in southern Gaza city would result in widespread civilian casualties and spark the Hamas insurgency, later a terrorist group. predicted that it would create a power vacuum that the government sought to fill.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sounded the alarm when President Joe Biden told CNN last week that he would suspend some arms transfers due to Israel’s invasion of Rafah. This was issued after the government issued an ultimatum.
Mr. Blinken and Mr. Sullivan both said they made the decision because Mr. Biden did not want American weapons to be used in what they presumed would be a bloody and reckless operation.
At the same time, Biden sought to refute claims by Republicans and pro-Israel Democrats that he intended to leave Israel to fend for himself. And Mr. Blinken last week sought to explain why he had not been able to reach a full judgment on whether Israel was complying with international law in its operations against Hamas, a conclusion that has been criticized by human rights groups and some lawmakers. invited criticism.
Blinken said Sunday that the United States believes Israel has killed more civilians than Hamas terrorists as part of the war in Gaza, and that Israel must do more to reduce civilian deaths. said.
“Israel has processes, procedures, rules and regulations to minimize harm to civilians, but given the impact this operation and the war in Gaza have had on civilians, they are consistently failing. It has not been effectively applied,” Blinken said on CBS. “Face the nation.”
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the number of people killed in the enclave as a result of Israeli military operations has exceeded 35,000.
Despite US warnings months ago that a ground invasion of Rafah would be prudent, Israel appears poised to continue its advance into Rafah, with an estimated 1.4 million civilians displaced there. Some people were ordered to evacuate.
Blinken warned on Sunday that “plunging headlong into Rafah” could have dire consequences.
“Israel is potentially on track to take over the insurgency, with many armed Hamas remaining,” Blinken said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” If it leaves, it will be filled with chaos and anarchy. “There will be a vacuum that will probably be replenished by Hamas.” ”
Meanwhile, Sullivan warned that the Israeli operation would cause “very significant civilian casualties” but was still unlikely to eliminate Hamas.
That’s part of the reason Biden decided that U.S. weapons should not be used in the Rafah attack.
“He doesn’t want to see American weapons used in that type of operation,” Sullivan said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“That’s not to say he’s going to abandon Israel or cut off its arms. He didn’t believe he would succeed in overthrowing Hamas and was focused on specific operations that would cause severe damage. .”
Blinken said Israel resisted U.S. advice to develop a plan for the Gaza Strip once the war ends.
“We have spent weeks working to develop a major plan for security, governance and reconstruction. We have never seen it come from Israel, we have We’ve been working on that plan with Arab countries and other countries. We need to see that too. We have the same objective as Israel. We don’t want Hamas to be able to rule Gaza again. ,” he told CBS.
Last week, the State Department released a report saying it was “reasonable to assess” that Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip used U.S. weapons in a manner “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law. However, the report stopped short of officially stating that Israel had violated the law.
“We have no double standards. We will treat Israel, one of our closest allies and partners, the same way we would treat any other country,” Blinken said on NBC.
Still, he said it was impossible to make such a complete decision during a war.
“That makes it very difficult, especially in the middle of a war, to accurately determine what happened and to draw definitive conclusions from a single incident,” Blinken told CBS. .
The top U.S. diplomat said the growing rift between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes even as relations between them are at their most tense moment since the October 7 Hamas attack. I made light of it.
“We have clear eyes and we are telling each other the truth as we see it,” Blinken said. “We have America’s interests in mind first and foremost. We also have Israel’s interests in mind. There may also be differences in thinking and how best to achieve it. But that’s also the nature of this relationship.
