Blinken hopes for progress on Gaza in UN Security Council

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed hope that the United States could
support a new UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, with a key point on access to aid.

The United States, an ally of Israel, vetoed two resolutions in the Security Council because they rejected calls for Israel to halt its military campaign launched in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, AFP reports.

Blinken, addressing reporters in Washington, said the United States is “in good faith” with other countries, following anger in the Arab world over the veto. “We have been working intensively on this. I have been discussing this on the phone over the past few days,” Blinken said.

“I hope we can get to a good place,” he added.

The latest version of the draft resolution, sponsored by the United Arab Emirates, stops using the word ceasefire and focuses on humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip, where 85 percent of the population has been displaced.

Blinken pointed out that the humanitarian issue is a key point, with Israel insisting on
full control of supplies entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. “The purpose of the resolution, as stated by the countries that put it forward, is to facilitate and help expand the humanitarian aid reaching Gaza. And we fully support that,” Blinken said.

“We want to make sure that the resolution, in what it calls for and demands, actually
advances that effort and does nothing that could actually harm the delivery of humanitarian aid, make it even more complicated,” he said.

Blinken claimed that the United States, through its diplomacy, has made progress in recent days, including the arrival of commercial trucks and the opening of a second crossing into Gaza.

Responding to criticism that the United States is isolated in its support for Israel, Blinken renewed calls for Israel to “minimize harm” to civilians, but also said that pressure needs to be put on Hamas.

“The past few months have been agonizing. You see the suffering of men, women, and especially
children in Gaza,” he said. “It affects every one of us. It affects me very, very deeply.”

Blinken condemned what he called “silence about what Hamas could do, should do, must do if we want to end the suffering of innocent men, women, and children.”

“It would be good if the world could unite around that proposal as well,” he added.

Blinken also expressed hope for a new pause in fighting to free hostages, as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for talks.

“We remain very actively engaged in seeing if we can bring back the pause and get the hostages out again,” Blinken said.