“I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew”

Tel Aviv/Geneva: I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew,” Antony J. Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu here today. He disclosed: “My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia.  My stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived concentration camps – Auschwitz, Dachau, Majdanek.”

Blinken arrived here to assert America’s unequivocal support for Israel in the latter’s war against Hamas, and Netanyahu told him that the US President Joe Biden was “absolutely correct in calling this “sheer evil”.”  In reply, Blinken said, “I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas’s massacres carry for Israeli Jews – indeed, for Jews everywhere”.

Blinken said the message that he brought to Israel was this: “You (Israel) may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself – but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to.  We will always be there, by your side. That’s the message that President Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment this crisis began.  It’s the message that I and my other colleagues in the government have delivered to our Israeli counterparts on a daily – even an hourly – basis. It’s the message that I bring with me to our discussions today, and it’s what I’ll affirm when I meet with the members of Israel’s newly formed national emergency government.  We welcome the government’s creation and the unity and resolve that it reflects across Israel’s society.”

The US would be supplying ammunition, and interceptors to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome, alongside other defence materiel.  The first shipments of US military support have already arrived in Israel, and more is on the way.

“As Israel’s defence needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they’re met. And I can tell you there is overwhelming – overwhelming – bipartisan support in our Congress for Israel’s security,” Blinken told Netanyahu. He added, “Here in Israel, and everywhere, we will reaffirm the crystal-clear warning that President Biden issued yesterday to any adversary – state or non-state – thinking of taking advantage of the current crisis to attack Israel:  Don’t.  The United States has Israel’s back”.

The US has already deployed the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean and also bolstered the presence of US fighter aircraft in the region.

“Too often in the past, leaders have equivocated in the face of terrorist attacks against Israel and its people.  That’s why we’ve been adamant with all countries in the wake of these attacks:  There is no excuse, there is no justification for these atrocities,” he said.

Washington asserted it would continue working closely with Israel to secure the release of the men, women, children, elderly people taken hostage by Hamas. Blinken informed Netanyahu that the US was pursuing intensive diplomacy throughout the region to prevent the conflict from spreading.

The Israeli Prime Minister equated Hamas with ISIS and vowed that “just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed”. He said, “There will be many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the forces of civilization will win”.

Blinken went on to present a graphic picture of the violence unleashed by Hamas in Israel: “It’s impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed – such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz – and not think of my own children.

“This was just one of Hamas’s countless acts of terror – in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS.  Babies slaughtered.  Bodies desecrated.  Young people burned alive.  Women raped.  Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents.  How are we even to understand this, to digest this? 

And yet, at the same time – at the same time that we’ve been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we’ve also been inspired by the bravery of Israel’s citizens: the grandfather, who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege, armed only with a pistol, and rescued his kids and grandkids; the mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his, giving him life for a second time; the volunteer security teams on the kibbutzes, who swiftly rallied to defend their friends and neighbours, despite being heavily outnumbered.”

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva issued a press release today that quoted “UN Experts” condemning on one hand Hamas for the deliberate and widespread killing and hostage-taking of innocent civilians, including older persons and children, and on the other hand, Israel’s indiscriminate military attacks against the “already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza, comprising over 2.3 million people, nearly half of whom are children. They have lived under unlawful blockade for 16 years, and already gone through five major brutal wars, which remain unaccounted for”.

At dawn on October 7, 2023, Palestinian armed groups from Gaza fired more than 5,000 rockets indiscriminately towards Israel and breached the heavily fortified Gaza barrier to launch ground attacks in multiple locations in Israel. The attacks indiscriminately targeted both civilians and security forces. Hamas stated that its actions were taken in response to Israel’s continuous violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem. More than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, the majority of whom were civilians, were reportedly killed, and more than 3,000 wounded. Reports suggest that more than 100 Israelis and foreign nationals, including children and older persons, and some known human rights defenders, have been taken hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

As a result of the Israeli attacks against Gaza, by air, land and sea, at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, including older persons and 290 children, and more than 5,000 injured, the UN Human Rights Office stated today. “The airstrikes appear to have targeted densely populated areas, including markets, and two hospitals, destroyed residential buildings and damaged 20 United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) facilities, including schools sheltering displaced civilians. As of 11 October, the UN estimated that at least 340,000 people have been displaced within Gaza, and nearly 218,600 people are sheltering in 92 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip,” it informed.

“Indiscriminately killing civilians in the context of hostilities, with no regard for the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality, is a war crime,” the UN experts said.

On October 9, the Israeli Defence Minister announced that authorities would completely cut essential supplies to Gaza, stating they are fighting “human animals.” The Minister threatened to bomb those attempting to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. On 9 and 10 October, Israel reportedly bombed the Rafah crossing at the Gaza-Egyptian border, disrupting movement in and out of Gaza, rendering the crossing closed and the enclave completely blockaded.

“Besides this appalling language that dehumanises the Palestinian people, especially those who have been unlawfully “imprisoned” in Gaza for 16 years, we condemn the withholding of essential supplies such as food, water, electricity and medicines. Such actions will precipitate a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where its population is now at an inescapable risk of starvation. Intentional starvation is a crime against humanity,” the UN experts said.

Earlier, on October 10, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) offered assistance to health officials in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Just a day before that, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who agreed to a WHO request to facilitate the delivery of health and other humanitarian supplies from WHO to Gaza via the Rafah crossing. Such humanitarian corridors must be protected.

“In the Gaza Strip, hospitals are running on backup generators with fuel likely to run out in the coming days. They have exhausted the supplies WHO pre-positioned before the escalation. The life-saving health response is now dependent on getting new supplies and fuel to health care facilities as fast as possible,” WHO had warned on October 10. It stated that it was “urgently” working to procure medical supplies locally to meet demand, and preparing supplies from its Global Medical Logistics Hub in Dubai, UAE.

WHO further said it was also gravely concerned about the health and well-being of hostages, including elderly civilians, seized from Israel by Hamas in attacks on October 7. The hostages’ health and medical needs must be addressed immediately, and we call for their safe release.

– global bihari bureau