“Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and also to take steps to try to make sure that this never happens again,” Blinken said. “We’ve also said very clearly and repeatedly that how Israel does this matters. We will focus as well on steps that need to be taken to protect civilians who are in a crossfire of Hamas’s making, and we want to look at concrete steps that can be taken to better protect them.”
A senior administration official said that humanitarian pauses would be among the U.S. proposals “to facilitate aid getting in and hostages getting out” of Gaza. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive planning around the trip.
President Biden said Wednesday that he favors such a pause, but not a cease-fire — the first time he has publicly expressed the position that senior administration officials took last week.
Blinken is embarking on another round of regional diplomacy after crisscrossing the Middle East last month for more than a week. The Biden administration has offered robust military support to Israel in its effort to respond to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but it has increasingly urged Israeli leaders to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and to hold back from a full-scale invasion.
The administration is trying to prevent the conflict from escalating into a regional war, and officials have been keeping a careful eye on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement as well as Tehran itself.
Blinken said he would also push for long-term planning for regional security, reiterating that a two-state solution is the best way Israel can ensure its safety.
“We’re focused on the day of,” he said. “We also need to be focused on the day after.”
He said he would raise “concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women and children in Gaza.”
U.S. diplomats pushed hard to facilitate the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to enable foreign nationals and wounded civilians to leave starting Wednesday. Blinken said he wants to preserve that crossing, as well as make progress on freeing the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
After a Friday visit to Israel, Blinken is set to speak to Jordanian leaders over the weekend.