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United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told Israeli leaders they must not use the same destructive military tactics previously employed in the northern Gaza Strip in the next stage of their punitive campaign in southern Gaza against terrorist group Hamas.
“We discussed the details of Israel’s ongoing planning, and I underscored the imperative for the United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement on the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the south,” Blinken declared during a briefing after holding a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet in Tel Aviv on November 30, 2023.
Blinken’s statements reflect a change among the Biden regime with respect to the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting operations in Gaza.
Blinken highlighted the call for restraint in a post on X, declaring in the meeting with Netanyahu “I emphasized the need for Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm.” US officials stressed in particular the harm to civilians after many relocated to southern Gaza to escape the IDF’s onslaught.
Blinken recalled that Israel reached an agreement with the US demanding the Jewish state to hammer out a plan that “puts a premium on protecting civilians.” He added that the IDF must not target critical infrastructure.
An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on November 29, said Israel has plans of ensuring there were enough safe zones for civilians in southern Gaza as the Jewish state continues its punitive campaign
Over 15,000 people have died in Gaza since the Hamas-Israel war kicked off, per Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel may be experiencing the beginning of a legitimacy crisis among elites in the West. The radical ethno-religious character of its coalition government is making Western elites jittery. They recognize that such a regime does not align with the values of the West.
However, the Zionist control of Western governments will make it very difficult for the US to extricate to rid itself of these subversive elements.
