Blinken says ‘far too many’ Palestinians have died as Israel wages relentless warfare on Hamas

NEW DELHI — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Friday that “far too many” Palestinians have died and suffered as Israel wages a relentless warfare in opposition to the militant Hamas group within the Gaza Strip. He urged Israel to reduce hurt to civilians and maximize humanitarian help that reaches them.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Blinken mentioned current Israeli strikes to enhance dire situations in Gaza as its army pushes deeper into the strip – together with pauses in army operations to permit Palestinians to maneuver from northern to southern Gaza and the creation of a second protected hall – are optimistic however they aren’t practically sufficient.

“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” he mentioned. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them.”

Blinken spoke as he wrapped up an intense nine-day diplomatic tour of the Middle East and Asia – his second frenetic Mideast journey because the warfare started with Hamas‘ deadly incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7.

In Hamas-run Gaza, the Health Ministry said Friday that the Palestinian death in the coastal strip toll has surpassed 11,000 people. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mainly in the initial Hamas attack.

Blinken‘s tour focused largely on the war amid growing international outrage over the destruction wrought on Gaza and demands for an immediate cease-fire. Neither Israel nor the United States support a cease-fire because they argue Hamas would take advantage of it to regroup and launch new terror attacks.

Blinken said the U.S. has come up with additional proposals how better to protect civilians but did not elaborate.

U.S. officials have said they would like to see Israel introduce longer “humanitarian pauses” in areas beyond the two established safe passage and exponentially expand the amount of assistance getting into Gaza from Egypt by increasing the flow of truck convoys.

The U.S. also remains resolute to secure the release of Israeli and other hostages held by Hamas, get all foreigners who want to leave Gaza out, prevent the violence from spreader to the broader region, and to begin planning for what a post-conflict Gaza will look like, Blinken said.

Starting last week, Blinken‘s marathon mission took him to eight countries – Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Iraq, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and India – as well as the occupied West Bank. But as he did on his previous Mideast tour last month, he encountered skepticism and outright resistance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last Friday rejected the idea of “humanitarian pauses,” saying military pressure on Hamas could not be eased.

“We are going full steam ahead,” Netanyahu said shortly after Blinken warned that Palestinians were being driven toward further radicalism that could perpetuate the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and leave Israel at greater risk.

Then, Arab foreign ministers accused Israel of war crimes, demanding nothing less than an immediate full-on cease-fire and dismissing Blinken’s name for post-conflict planning as naïve and untimely whereas civilian deaths have been rising.

“The Arab countries demand an immediate cease-fire that will end this war,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi instructed Blinken in Amman on Saturday.

Diplomatically, issues weren’t trying a lot better.

During Blinken‘s trip, both Jordan and Turkey recalled their ambassadors to Israel in protest and made clear that Israeli envoys to their countries would not be welcomed back until the conflict was over.

Over the weekend, massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations against the war and U.S. support for Israel rocked capitals around the world, fueling fears of unrest amid a global spike in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.

By the time Blinken had visited Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, made a brief stop in Cyprus, and flown on to Iraq and Turkey on Sunday, it appeared he had won little, if any, support for most of his proposals.

Privately, however, U.S. officials said they were making headway with Netanyahu on the humanitarian pauses and increased aid to Gaza and that the Arab states would in the interim support temporary pauses.

Leaving Ankara on Monday, Blinken acknowledged his efforts remained “a work in progress” while U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, insisted prospects for at least some success were not so bleak.

In Tokyo on Tuesday, where Blinken attended a Japanese-hosted meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrial democracies, there were fears that the bloc, which has overcome differences to remain united against Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, would possibly break up over the Middle East.

Both Japan and France, together with the European Union, had taken much less forceful stances in help of Israel. The French had voted in favor of a U.N. Security Council decision demanding a cease-fire that the U.S. has vetoed. The different G7 members had all abstained on an analogous however non-binding General Assembly decision that the U.S. had voted in opposition to.

Behind the scenes, U.S. officers mentioned momentum was shifting.

Israeli officers have been starting to heat to the concept momentary rolling pauses may each profit Israel militarily and present its willingness to ease civilian hardship. In the meantime, Arab leaders, together with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, have been stepping up quiet efforts to maintain the battle from spreading.

After Blinken warned of penalties if Iranian-backed militias continued to assault U.S. amenities in Iraq and Syria on Sunday in Baghdad, al-Sudani had traveled to Tehran and met Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a transfer U.S. officers urged was optimistic.

And, in Tokyo, after a forceful closed-door intervention by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the G7 coalesced round a powerful assertion of help for all of Blinken’s priorities, together with an unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and backing for Israel’s proper to defend itself.

They additionally backed humanitarian pauses and corridors, post-conflict planning for Gaza, and an eventual restoration of a course of to carry lasting peace by a two-state resolution.

As Blinken concluded bilateral talks with South Korean leaders in Seoul and made his approach to India, Israel introduced every day four-hour humanitarian pauses, with a 3 hours’ discover, and the opening of a second protected hall for Palestinians to depart northern Gaza to hunt security within the south.

“We appreciate the fact that” Israel lastly agreed to the pauses, Blinken mentioned as he stopped in New Delhi, greater than per week after beginning his mission.

“As I’ve said, from the start, this is a process and it’s not always flipping the light switch,” he mentioned. “But we have seen progress. We just need to see more of it.”