Protecting Civilians 'Job Number One': Blinken
The Top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday that Israel must make the welfare of Palestinian civilians “job number one” in its conduct of the war against Hamas, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
"We look to the government of Israel to make sure this is a priority: protecting civilians.” Antony Blinken told reporters at the Department's briefing room following his virtual meeting with counterparts from Cyprus, the UK, UAE, Qatar, the EU and the UN to discuss a new maritime corridor for aid into Gaza.
Specifically, Blinken called on Israel to do more to allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians, especially via land crossings.
“When established, this corridor will enable the distribution of up to 2 million meals every single day, as well as medicine, water and other critical humanitarian supplies,” he said. “We need to see flooding in the zone when it comes to humanitarian assistance for Gaza.”
Blinken said the maritime corridor that will be set up by the U.S. and partners will take time to provide results and it can only complement, not substitute, the larger amount of aid that could be getting through on land.
Politics
-
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
-
This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
-
The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
-
The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
Leave a review