Blinken warns war in Gaza could 'metastasize'
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that it was "imperative" that "Israel" put a "premium on protecting civilians" in Gaza.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a joint press conference with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister following their meeting in Doha on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Sunday the war in Gaza could spread and threaten security in the wider Middle East.
"This is a moment of profound tension in the region. This is a conflict that could easily metastasize, causing even more insecurity and even more suffering," Blinken told a news conference in Doha alongside Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
He warned it was "imperative" that "Israel" put a "premium on protecting civilians," ensuring operations were "designed around protecting civilians."
Amid the deepening humanitarian crisis and mass displacement in Gaza, Blinken said civilians "must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow."
"They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza," he stressed.
But this comes as the Israeli Channel 12 reported a couple of weeks ago that 244 US transport planes and 20 ships have delivered over 10,000 tons of armaments and military equipment to "Israel" since the war's onset. In addition to military aid, the United States has also provided "Israel" with diplomatic cover at the UN Security Council (UNSC) by vetoing draft resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, greenlighting the Israeli occupation's massacres against the Palestinian people there.
Blinken called the death of two Al Jazeera journalists in an Israeli strike on Gaza an "unimaginable tragedy".
"That's also been the case for... far too many innocent Palestinian men, women and children," he said.
Blinken arrived in Qatar following stops in Jordan, Turkey, and Greece.
On his part, the Qatari premier said talks with Hamas on a fresh truce in Gaza were "ongoing" with US backing.
It is noteworthy that Doha mediated a one-week truce that began in November and led to the release of a number of Israeli captives who were held by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons and aid entering the besieged Gaza Strip.
However, Sheikh Mohammad noted that the Israeli strike that targeted the Southern Suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut and killed Hamas's deputy chief Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri had affected "the complicated process."
"Yet we are not giving up. We are moving forward," he indicated.
Read more: Israeli 'deconfliction process' worst ever, UNRWA in 'survival mode'
