Blinken: There is still a gap between Israel’s intention to protect civilians and the results on the ground

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said Thursday that there is still a gap between Israel’s intention to protect civilians and the results on the ground in Gaza, adding that Washington speaks with Israel regularly about protecting civilians.

He stated in a press conference in Washington, DC, after his meeting with his British counterpart, David Cameron, that “It remains necessary for Israel to give priority to the protection of civilians. There is still a gap between, exactly as I said when I was there, the intention to protect civilians and the actual results that we see.” On the ground”.

Blinken added, “Protecting civilians is an issue we talk about with the Israelis on a regular basis, including what we talked about today.”

The US Secretary of State stressed that “Israel is ensuring that the truce periods do not apply only to one neighborhood, but to a broader area. We still acknowledge the extraordinary difficulty of the task of protecting civilians, but Israel has an obligation.”

US President Joe Biden, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, stressed the importance of the continuous and sustainable flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, stressing the need to protect civilians in the Strip and separate them from the Hamas movement.

Biden welcomed the recent Israeli decision to ensure that fuel levels would meet the required needs, but stressed that more assistance was urgently needed, according to a White House statement.

The US President also stressed the urgent need to protect the civilian population and separate it from Hamas, including through corridors that allow people to move safely.

Biden expressed “deep concern” about the hostages still in Gaza. He reiterated that the International Committee must be allowed access to hostages held by Hamas.

The US President pointed out that it was Hamas’s refusal to release the young civilian women hostages that led to the collapse of the humanitarian truce.

Biden reiterated his concern about extreme violence committed against Palestinians and the need for increased stability in the West Bank.

The death toll as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip reached 17,177 people, according to what the Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Thursday, as the war entered its third month.

Israeli forces launched an air and ground attack against the Hamas movement, which is on the terrorist lists in Gaza, after the October 7 attack, which left about 1,200 people dead, according to Israel, which also revealed that Hamas members kidnapped about 240 hostages on the day of the attack.