Blinken tells Netanyahu ‘imperative’ to protect Gaza civilians
Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, emphasized the need to protect civilians in southern Gaza, where many have fled, the State Department says.
Blinken “stressed the imperative of accounting for humanitarian and civilian protection needs in southern Gaza before any military operations there,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says in a statement, adding he “urged Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm.”
Netanyahu ends meeting with Blinken, says Israel has ‘sworn to destroy Hamas’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has concluded his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Noting that the sit-down came shortly after 3 Israelis were murdered in a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem that was claimed by Hamas, Netanyahu says he told Blinken: “This is the same Hamas. It’s the same Hamas that committed the terrible massacre on October 7, the same Hamas that is trying to murder us everywhere.
“I told him we have sworn, and I have sworn, to destroy Hamas. Nothing will stop us,” he says, reiterating that the war in Gaza will continue until Israel frees all its hostages, vanquishes Hamas and guarantees that no similar threat will ever be posed again from Gaza.
