Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday gave one of his most direct condemnations of the civilian death toll in Gaza and said more needs to be done to “minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
Although Blinken commended Israel for its announcement of daily military pauses in areas of Northern Gaza and two evacuation corridors, he said that “there is more that can and should be done to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
The top US diplomat has subtly shifted his messaging in the days since he departed the Middle East earlier this week to more directly voice condemnation of the civilian toll in Gaza and the US’ expectations for the Israeli government. However, he still has not condemned the Israeli government offensive and has continually voiced support for its right to defend itself.
The reason they aren’t doing that is to reduce civilian casualties despite Hamas using human shields. If genocide were Israel’s goal I suspect they would be using such tactics, that they aren’t, that they are instead spending lots of money to increase accuracy and reduce collateral damage, is telling.
This human shields line. If it was true why don’t Hamas stick their hostages in every hospital?