Mr Blinken reiterated the support of Joe Biden’s administration for Israel, but insisted it was focused on easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and opposed an Israeli assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where over one million displaced people had taken shelter.
“When it comes to making sure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself, no one has, no one will do more than president Biden,” Mr Blinken said, pushing back against Republican accusations that Washington’s pause on a weapons shipment to Israel was weakening it in its war against Hamas.
“At the same time when it comes to Rafah we’ve been very clear in many conversations with Israeli leadership over the past months about our deep concerns about a major military operation in Rafah and the impact that that would have on civilians,” he said.
