Washington has thrown its full support behind Israel, but the administration’s tone and focus have shifted as the civilian death toll rose and the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated.
Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million has killed at least 9,061 people, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The first evacuees started leaving Gaza this week at the Rafah crossing into Egypt. The US said 79 of its citizens had left in the two days since the crossing opened. Mr Blinken said he expected more evacuations over the coming days.
The pressure to allow more humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza has mounted as conditions inside the territory have deteriorated, with Palestinian civilians suffering shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine.
Reports say more than a third of Gaza’s 35 hospitals are not functioning, with many turned into refugee camps. “The situation is beyond catastrophic,” said Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity.
Mr Blinken said: “When I see a Palestinian child – a boy, a girl pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building – that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else. This is something that we have an obligation to respond to, and we will.”
In another complication for Mr Biden and his efforts to secure new military funding for Israel, while maintaining the aid that goes to Ukraine, the House of Representatives passed a measure that dealt only with America’s ally in the Middle East.
Mr Biden had urged that the two be tied, as he said the issue of fighting for democracy in both nations was inextricably linked.
But under new Speaker Mike Johnson, the GOP-controlled House passed a measure to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel alone, the bill passing 226 to 196, largely along party lines.
As it is, the measure has all but no hope of being passed in the upper chamber of Congress, where senators are working on their own bill that ties funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
