US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the end of his tour of the Middle East and Asian countries that Washington's vision includes rejecting the forced displacement of civilians in Gaza and rejecting the use of the Strip as a platform for attacks on Israel.
At a news conference before leaving the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, Blinken stressed that more needed to be done to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip. He noted that there are concrete and practical plans to allow more aid trucks to enter the Strip.
Blinken began his marathon tour of Israel last Friday with talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He then visited the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Cyprus, Iraq, Turkey, Japan (for a meeting of the Group of Seven) and South Korea.
The two-state solution
Blinken on Friday reiterated U.S. support for a future solution based on two states, Israel and Palestine, saying it was the only way to achieve a "lasting and just peace."
While welcoming Tel Aviv's agreement to a daily "truce" in its war to allow residents to leave from its north, the US secretary of state sent a message to Israel that "many Palestinians have been killed and many have suffered in the past weeks and everything possible must be done to protect them from harm and deliver as much aid as possible to them."
For the 35th day, Israel has launched a war on Gaza, which has so far led to the death of more than 11,<> in addition to thousands of injuries and massive destruction of residential neighborhoods, vital facilities, mosques and hospitals.
Meanwhile, the resistance factions are repelling the Israeli army's attempts to infiltrate into the Gaza Strip and inflicting heavy losses in its ranks, in addition to more than 1400,240 Israeli deaths and 7 prisoners in the Al-Aqsa flood operation that began on October <>.
Israel rejects mounting international pressure for a ceasefire and insists on achieving what it describes as the goals of its war on Gaza by ending Hamas and releasing its prisoners.
Since the beginning of the war, Washington has repeatedly asserted its support for Israel, sending aircraft carriers to the region and military equipment to Tel Aviv, in addition to allocating billions of dollars in financial aid.