India condemns Hamas ‘terrorist attack,’ reiterates backing for independent Palestine.
Blinken to visit Qatar Friday to discuss Hamas: US official
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Doha later this week to discuss Hamas with Qatari leaders amid a devastating war between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
“Tomorrow, Secretary Blinken will travel to Qatar to meet with senior officials there,” a US official said.
India considers the weekend attack by Hamas militants in Israel a “terrorist attack,” a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry said Thursday, while reiterating its longstanding position for an independent Palestine.
“We see this as a terrorist attack,” the spokesperson said.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that governs the Gaza Strip in retribution for one of the deadliest attacks on its soil. It has put Gaza under total siege and launched its biggest bombing campaign in the 75-year history of the conflict.
Over 2,500 people have died between the two sides up to now.
The spokesperson’s remarks were the first reiteration of India’s stance on an independent Palestinian state since the latest hostilities broke out between Israel and Hamas over the weekend.
“India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side-by-side at peace with Israel,” spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a weekly briefing.
Immediately after the attacks Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed shock over the “terrorist attacks in Israel.”
“We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” he said on social media platform X, and also during a phone conversation with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
India only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, but the two countries have inched closer to becoming strategic partners since then and New Delhi has become much less vocal in expressing its support for an independent Palestinian state.
But as the hostilities continue and Israel launches a barrage of bombing across the Gaza Strip, New Delhi said that “there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law.”
“There is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the spokesperson said.
Blinken says at least 25 Americans killed in Hamas attack
Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on a visit Thursday that the United States will “always” back Israel but said the Palestinians also have “legitimate aspirations” not represented by militant group Hamas.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself,” Blinken said during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as war raged between Israel and Hamas.
“But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side.”
Paying a solidarity visit as Israel’s army hammers Hamas over weekend attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel, Blinken also gave a new death toll for US citizens, saying at least 25 were confirmed among the dead.
President Joe Biden has vowed unwavering support for Israel and not called for restraint against Hamas, but Blinken hinted at the need for an eventual peace settlement – an idea that has long met resistance from the right-wing Netanyahu.
“Anyone who wants peace and justice must condemn Hamas’ reign of terror. We know Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people, or their legitimate aspirations to live with equal measures of security, freedom, justice opportunity and dignity,” Blinken said.
Speaking in unusually personal terms, Blinken recalled how his grandfather fled anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia and his stepfather survived Nazi concentration camps.
“I come before you not only as the United States secretary of state but also as a Jew,” said Blinken, who has a secular background.
“I also come before you as a husband and father of young children. It’s impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed, such as the mother, father and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and not think of my own children,” he said.
Blinken promised that the Biden administration and Congress would work together to meet military requests for Israel, which enjoys wide support across party lines.
“As Israel’s defense needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they’re met,” he said.
Netanyahu, speaking next to Blinken, voiced appreciation for US support and said that Hamas, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, should be treated like ISIS.
“Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Netanyahu said.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with the Palestinian and Jordanian leaders in Amman, a US official said as Blinken was on a solidarity visit to Israel Thursday.
“Tomorrow (Friday) in Amman, Secretary Blinken will have meetings with Palestinian President (Mahmoud) Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II,” the official told an AFP correspondent traveling with Blinken, whose visit followed Hamas’s surprise weekend onslaught in Israel.
Blinken is expected to visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington closes ranks with its ally that has launched a withering air campaign against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken, who under unusually tight security with guards in camouflaged military gear, was received at the airport by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
In comments made before departing to Israel, Blinken stressed Washington’s support to Israel.
“The United States has Israel’s back. We have their back today, tomorrow – we will have it every day,” Blinken told reporters.
“We’re determined to make sure Israel gets everything it needs to defend itself.”