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Blinken: Israeli offers to increase flow of aid to Gaza are welcome but may not be sufficient

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the measures the Israeli government has announced to expand the flow of aid into Gaza are welcome but may not be enough to meet the Biden administration’s demands for dramatic improvements in humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Quick Read

  • Blinken’s Response to Israeli Measures: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged Israel’s efforts to increase aid flow into Gaza but emphasized the need for more significant improvements in humanitarian conditions.
  • Calls for Investigation: Blinken advocated for an independent and transparent investigation into the recent deaths of aid workers in Gaza, highlighting the importance of accountability.
  • Military Accountability: The Israeli military’s quick action to discipline officers involved in the airstrike on the aid convoy is noted, but skepticism remains regarding the military’s decision-making processes.
  • International Reaction: The incident involving the aid workers has intensified global scrutiny of Israel’s conduct in the conflict with Hamas.
  • U.S. Expectations: The U.S. is looking for tangible results in terms of better protection for civilians and aid workers, as well as improved coordination for safe aid delivery in Gaza.
  • Israeli Initiatives: Following a conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced measures to improve conditions in Gaza, including reopening key border crossings and facilitating aid shipments.
  • Ceasefire Urgency: Biden stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire and the swift release of hostages held in Gaza as essential steps for continued U.S. support in the conflict.
  • Conflict Toll: The ongoing conflict has resulted in significant Palestinian casualties, with a large proportion being women and children, and has severely impacted Gaza’s population and living conditions.

The Associated Press has the story:

Blinken: Israeli offers to increase flow of aid to Gaza are welcome but may not be sufficient

Newslooks- LEUVEN, Belgium (AP) —

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the measures the Israeli government has announced to expand the flow of aid into Gaza are welcome but may not be enough to meet the Biden administration’s demands for dramatic improvements in humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Blinken said that opening more border crossings, if fully implemented, has the potential to surge assistance to Palestinians caught in the fighting between Israel and Hamas. However, the U.S. also wants to see tangible steps to bolster the protection of civilians and aid workers, he said.

Ashraf Abu Draz mourns over the bodies of his two daughters who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

In addition, he called for an “independent, thorough and fully publicized investigation” into the recent killings of aid workers. Seven employees of the charity World Central Kitchen, including six international volunteers, were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes on their three-car convoy in Gaza late Monday.

The military announced Friday that it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their role in the strikes on the convoy, saying they had mishandled critical information and violated the army’s rules of engagement.

Members of the Abu Draz family mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

The attack on the convoy was a “grave mistake,” the military said. The speed of the investigation and swift punishment of senior officers was highly unusual for the military, where charges against troops for alleged wrongdoing are rare.

The findings are likely to renew skepticism over the Israeli military’s decision-making. Palestinians, aid groups and human rights organizations have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of firing recklessly at civilians throughout the conflict — a charge Israel denies.

CORRECTS DATE – This combination of photos provided by World Central Kitchen/WCK.org, shows seven aid workers who were killed in Gaza Monday, April 1, 2024. Israeli airstrikes that killed the aid workers in Gaza reverberated around the world, as friends and relatives mourned the losses of those who were delivering food to besieged Palestinians with the charity World Central Kitchen. Top left to right: Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom of Australia, Damian Soból of Poland, and Jacob Flickinger of the U.S. and Canada. Bottom left to right: John Chapman of Britain, James Henderson of Britain and James Kirby of Britain. (World Central Kitchen/WCK.org via AP)

The incident sparked international outrage and put Israel on the defensive about its conduct in its six-month-old war against Hama s.

“We welcome that steps that have been announced by Israel,” Blinken said. “These are positive developments but the real test is results and that’s what we’re looking to see in the coming days and the coming weeks.”

At the same time, he said the U.S. wanted to see a “better system for de-confliction and coordination” so that aid can be safely delivered and distributed inside Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, during his visit to Cairo, Egypt, Thursday March 21, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)

“All of these things are critical and that really needs to be measured by results,” Blinken told reporters in the town of Leuven, outside Brussels, where he was meeting with U.S. and European trade and commerce officials.

Israel’s military has promised to conduct a speedy investigation into the killing of the aid workers. In initial comments, the Israeli army chief said earlier this week that the strikes were a result of misidentification, but did not elaborate.

FILE – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, on June 25, 2023. Israel’s High Court ruling Thursday to curtail subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men has thrown Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future into grave jeopardy. Netanyahu now has until Monday to present the court with a plan to dismantle what the justices called a system that privileges the ultra-Orthodox at the expense of the country’s majority. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced early Friday that Israel would act to improve conditions, including reopening a key border crossing into northern Gaza, just hours after President Joe Biden told him in a Thursday phone call that future U.S. support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers.

Netanyahu’s office said the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza, which was partially destroyed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, would temporarily reopen. It also said Israel would allow its Ashdod port, 22 miles (37 kilometers) north of Gaza, to be used to process aid shipments bound for the territory and allow increased Jordanian aid shipments through another land crossing. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.

This combination photo shows President Joe Biden, left, on March 8, 2024, in Wallingford, Pa., and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Biden and Netanyahu spoke Monday, March 18,  in their first interaction in more than a month as the divide has grown between allies over food crisis in Gaza, conduct of war. (AP Photo)

Biden also told Netanyahu that reaching an “immediate cease-fire” in exchange for the estimated 100 hostages that are still being held in Gaza was “essential” and urged Israel to reach such an accord “without delay,” the White House said.

Israel declared war on Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 attack, in which the militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostages.

Members of the Abu Draz family hold the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at their house in Rafah, southern Gaza, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Israel’s blistering air and ground offensive has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, an enclave that in parts remains under Hamas control.

The offensive has displaced more than 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

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