2023-12-21 01:06:49
War between Israel and Hamas, the Biden administration’s ”absolute priority” today is to end ”as quickly as possible”. “We are putting pressure” to reach a truce”, American President Joe Biden told journalists upon his arrival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, speaking of the possibility of a new agreement between Israel and Hamas for a truce in the fighting and for the release of the hostages. Then he defined as “tragic” the death of 20 thousand Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the latest toll provided by Hamas, due to Israeli operations.
The end of the conflict, declared US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the State Department’s end-of-year press conference, was indicated as priority four, after support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, relations with China and building a coalition.
The United States also expects ”more targeted attacks” against the targets to be hit in the Gaza Strip. “We expect to see, and want to see, a shift toward more targeted operations, with fewer forces, that are really focused on the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network and some other critical elements,” Blinken said. “And when that happens, you will see that the harm done to civilians will also decrease significantly,” she said.
The hostages
”The United States and Israel want an agreement for a new pause in the fighting that will allow the release of the hostages”, declares Blinken, but ”the problem was and remains Hamas”. “What strikes me is that, even though we hear many countries calling for an end to this conflict, which we would all like to see, I hear practically no one asking Hamas to stop hiding behind civilians, to lay down their weapons, to surrender.” , Blinken said. “How is it possible that there are no demands made on the attacker, but only demands on the victim?” he asked.
The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
The United States is carefully discussing the text of the resolution, presented by the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations Security Council, for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. On the part of the USA there is a commitment to ensuring that aid reaches the population of Gaza safely and effectively. ”We continue to engage broadly and constructively with a number of countries to try to resolve some of the outstanding issues in the UN Security Council resolution,” Blinken said. Underlining that the US shares the Emirates’ objective of bringing more aid to the people of Gaza, Blinken said that ”we continue to work on this aspect every day, making sure, for example, that once aid arrives in Gaza, it can actually move and be distributed safely and securely with predictable routes”.
The US, he added, has ”been at the forefront of all these efforts and we want to make sure that the resolution, in what it asks and requires, actually takes forward that effort and does not do anything that would actually compromise the provision of humanitarian assistance” ‘.
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