Blinken says Gaza and West Bank must be 'unified' under Palestinian Authority.
Source: New York Times
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Wednesday that Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority once the war ends, the strongest signal yet from the Biden administration about what it would like to see at the end of Israel’s fight against Hamas in the enclave.
Mr. Blinken went beyond remarks by a White House spokesman, who on Tuesday cautioned Israel against reoccupying Gaza after the end of its war with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suggested earlier in the day that his country could hold a security role there “for an indefinite period.”
Several elements would go into reaching “a sustained peace,” Mr. Blinken said. “These must include the Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.”
“And it must include a sustained mechanism for reconstruction in Gaza, and a pathway to Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in states of their own, with equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity, and dignity,” Mr. Blinken said in Tokyo, where he had attended a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 7 nations.
Israel has agreed to daily, four-hour pauses in operations inside Gaza to allow more civilians to leave the northern part of the enclave and facilitate an increase in humanitarian aid entering from Egypt, the White House said Thursday. The pauses are to begin “today,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, though Israel had offered similar windows for civilians to evacuate earlier in the week. The Israel Defense Forces’ statements Thursday did not mention an agreement for daily pauses, and did not offer specifics about their length. Asked to respond to the subsequent White House description, Elyon Levy, spokesman for office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that Israel would continue to allow a “window” for the evacuation of civilians along a specific corridor.
Death toll in Gaza since 7 October exceeds 11,000 people, including 4,506 children
Gaza’s health ministry has said 11,078 people have been killed since the hostilities began, including 4,506 children, Reuters reports.
The figures provided by the ministry do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.
While the US president, Joe Biden, has challenged the figures from the Hamas-run ministry as exaggerated, the Associated Press notes that US assistant secretary of state, Barbara Leaf, told lawmakers earlier in the week that it was “very possible” the numbers were actually even higher than reported.
Every awful event that Israel is responsible for is gettng flooded with comments blaming Hamas instead. I’ve seen the “hamas rocket backfired” multiple times for different events now even when another agency of Israel is admitting to a given attack at the same time.
The video I posted was of Al Nasser Hospital.
Which force has Al Nasser Hospital surrounded with merkava tanks? Which force has merkava tanks? It’s not Hamas.
Don’t fall for the propaganda. Israel is invading Gaza and so many of its military officials have made comments they intend to push Gazans out of the city or kill them. Israel had an advanced internet propaganda division and most western media instead of calling for an immediate ceasefire is running war support stories “urging” Israel to not kill civilians instead. It is very obvious which side is at fault here. What purpose does entertaining constant blame shifting to Hamas serve? Hamas isn’t invading Gaza Israel is.
Took me a while to find these again. Posting the twitter links themselves too but don't be surprised if they get taken down once the propaganda heads figure out they've contradicted themselves on this one.
US public support for Israel drops; majority backs a ceasefire, Reuters/Ipsos shows
By Jason Lange and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. public support for Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza is eroding and most Americans think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Some 32% of respondents in the two-day opinion poll, which closed on Tuesday, said "the U.S. should support Israel" when asked what role the United States should take in the fighting. That was down from 41% who said the U.S. should back Israel in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Oct. 12-13.
The share saying "the U.S. should be a neutral mediator" rose to 39% in the new poll from 27% a month earlier. Four percent of respondents in the poll said the U.S. should support Palestinians and 15% said the U.S. shouldn't be involved at all, both similar readings to a month ago.
Israel has long counted on the U.S., its most powerful ally, for billions of dollars a year in military aid and international diplomatic support. An erosion of U.S. public support could be a worrisome sign for the Middle Eastern country, which faces not only Hamas militants in Gaza but the Hezbollah Islamist movement in Lebanon and has conducted a long-running “shadow war” with Iran, its regional arch-foe.
Vox also has a site dedicated to the purpose of understanding the conflict, including the relevant history. For those that like to read parallel versions for purposes of corroboration, etc.:
I can't support the senseless bombing of babies and children. It is against the rules of war.
Israel needs to come out and publicly explain their goals. They really only have two solid choices. 1. Take in the people into the state of Israel or 2. allowing a two or three state solution with elections...2. will need to be done by a international team of nations like the US, Canada, Uk, the arab world along with members from say china, etc to insure a stable transition into this democracy. It would be best if it was a two state solution between this palantian state and israel.
If Israel doesn't choose between one or the other I am going to come out against Israel and I believe that they're in contempt of the laws that dictate war and should be punished by the world.
UN Security Council passes resolution calling for humanitarian pauses, release of hostages in Gaza
Source: The Hill
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution calling for the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas and for urgent humanitarian pauses and corridors to be opened in besieged Gaza.
The resolution, which was brought by Malta, passed after several unsuccessful votes on a resolution regarding the Israel-Hamas war last month. It ultimately passed on Wednesday with 12 members of the council supporting it.
Russia, the United States and the U.K. abstained from the vote. Russia had called for a ceasefire in the fighting.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, blasted members for not adopting language that condemns Hamas for the deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people.
Biden warns U.S. could sanction Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians
Axios
11/18/2023
President Biden expressed on Saturday that the U.S. is prepared to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who are involved in attacks against Palestinian in the occupied West Bank.
Why It Matters: It is the first time the U.S. has publicly said it was considering individual sanctions against Israeli settlers.
It also signals that the Biden administration is concerned that the Israeli government may not be seriously attempting to stop and prevent the violence.
What They Are Saying: "I have been emphatic with Israel's leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable," Biden wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post on Saturday.
"The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank."
