“These are difficult days, we are here, as always, and we will continue our solidarity with Israel,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Tel Aviv where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that Blinken first met privately with Netanyahu and then with the Israeli “war cabinet”.
At the meeting, Netanyahu reportedly showed Blinken videos of attacks by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Israel respected international and humanitarian law in its attacks in Gaza.
“We distributed the leaflets you see in my hand to the people of Gaza. We sent six million text messages and made four million phone calls. In accordance with the rules of international law, we informed the people of Gaza in advance of our attacks. We also did this in the Jabalia camp,” said the Israeli president.
He pointed out that they carried out the attacks on Gaza within, as he stated, their right to self-defense and that they did their best to protect civilians.
“These are difficult days, we are here as always and we will continue to show our solidarity with Israel. Our position that Israel not only has the right to defend itself, but the obligation to defend itself, continues. Israel will do everything it can would prevent October 7th from happening again. He has the right to do that,” Blinken said.
Emphasizing that the protection of civilians is also important in Israel’s actions, Blinken stated that they are still determined to fight against Hamas.
He stated that he will continue to work resolutely for the release of prisoners held by Hamas.
The Israeli military has expanded air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under airstrikes since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel on October 7.
9,061 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
Israel announced that more than 1,400 Israelis, including 315 soldiers, were killed and 5,132 people were injured in the attacks from Gaza.
According to Israel, the number of soldiers killed in clashes in the Gaza Strip since October 31 has risen to 23.
Since October 7, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Al-Quds/Jerusalem have killed 138 Palestinians.
Targeting Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza with thousands of injured and civilians, the Israeli army also hit Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and bombed the area around the Indonesian and Quds Hospitals, Anadolu Agency reports.
Photo: Flickr
