Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the rounds of the Sunday news shows last weekend where he criticized Israel’s war in Gaza, which he said caused “a horrible loss of life” without neutralizing Hamas.
Blinken reiterated that the Biden administration believed that the Israeli military should “get out of Gaza” and claimed that the administration has yet to see any credible plan from the Israelis on the security and governance of Gaza once the war is over.
Blinken also asserted that any action in Rafah would leave Israel “holding the bag on an enduring insurgency.”
Blinken conceded that a military operation in the southern Gazan city may have “initial success” but added that it would lead to “terrible harm” to the civilian population without ensuring that Hamas could never govern Gaza again.
The Secretary of State also accused Israel’s conduct during the war of potentially putting it “on the trajectory” to create an insurgency by the armed Hamas militants that remain. He said Israel could create a “vacuum filled by chaos” and anarchy that the terror group could exploit.
Blinken said the Biden administration had been discussing alternatives with the Israelis that could lead to “enduring security.”
Blinken also defended the administration’s decision to halt offensive weapons shipments to Israel, claiming that US-supplied weapons used by the IDF likely targeted civilian populations.
He argued that it was “reasonable to assess” whether Israel had “acted in ways that are not consistent with international humanitarian law” when using US-supplied weapons, especially in light of the damage done to the civilian population.
It was revealed last weekend that the United Nations quietly adjusted its death toll numbers in Gaza, cutting them by nearly 50 percent.
The UN figures for total deaths among women and children dropped from 9,500 and 14,500 respectively to 4,959 and 7,797.
According to the new figures, the total number of confirmed Palestinian deaths by April 30 stood at 24,686, far lower than the roughly 34,000 cited by the Gaza Health Ministry.
