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.