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05-11-2023
WASHINGTON/ JERUSALEM: As United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was meeting with Israeli leaders to urge “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza, Israel intensified its bombing of the Palestinian territory, hitting hospitals, ambulances and civilians fleeing to safety.
Rights advocates say “humanitarian pauses” are inadequate to stop the carnage in Gaza, where the United Nations has expressed concern over possible war crimes.
“That’s obviously completely insufficient and is probably not sustainable over time. It’s kind of an absurd approach to this,” said Adam Shapiro, director of advocacy for Israel-Palestine at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).
“I don’t know who’s legally advising the US administration, but if they think that this is a way to compensate for international humanitarian law, they’re badly mistaken. That’s just not legitimate.”
Shapiro added that calling for pauses also paves the way for an “open-ended” conflict without accountability or political cost for Israel.
While in Israel on Friday, Blinken said temporarily halting the fighting would allow more aid into Gaza, protect Palestinian civilians and enable diplomacy to free captives held by Hamas.
“We believe that each of these efforts would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses, by arrangements on the ground that increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance,” he told journalists.
The White House had said earlier that any pause would be “localised”, a goal far less ambitious than achieving a full ceasefire.
Still, the stance marks a shift in the US position. Two weeks ago, Washington vetoed a United Nations Security Council proposal calling for a humanitarian pause.
Sandra Tamari, the executive director of Adalah Justice Project, an advocacy group, said the call for a humanitarian pause shows that the Biden administration is responding to growing domestic pressure over the rising death toll in Gaza. Over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed as of Friday.
“The Biden administration sees the American public’s outrage over this genocide and these killings, and they’re finding it harder and harder to justify allowing Israel to continue,” Tamari told media.
Blinken’s visit came amid growing discontent from Arab and Muslim communities over the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis. A survey earlier this week showed Biden polling at a record low of 17-percent support among Arab Americans, down 42 percentage points.
There have also been reports of growing dissent within the administration itself. One State Department official, Josh Paul, said he resigned his post over the US’s “continued lethal assistance to Israel”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
