US reaffirms support for Israel, Netanyahu calls for Hamas to be 'crushed'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed US support for Israel on Thursday during a visit to Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US for its "incredible support" for Israel.
"The message I bring to Israel is this: you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever need to," Blinken said. "We will always be there for you."
Blinken said he discussed with Netanyahu the importance of taking "all possible precautions to avoid civilian casualties."
"No country can or would tolerate the sacrifice of its citizens or simply going back to the conditions that allowed this to happen. Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this will not happen again," Blinken said.
But he also reiterated that respect for civilian life is what distinguishes democracies from those like Hamas, saying:
"As the prime minister and I discussed, it matters how Israel does this."
Blinken also stressed that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.
"We continue to work closely with Israel to secure the release of the men, women, children, and the elderly who have been taken hostage by Hamas. We are conducting intense diplomacy throughout the region to prevent the conflict from spreading, and I will continue to do so throughout my trip in the coming days," Blinken continued.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the US for its "incredible support" for Israel.
Blinken's visit, Netanyahu added, was "another tangible example of America's unequivocal support for Israel."
Hamas should be "crushed," Netanyahu said, just as ISIS had been crushed.
"Hamas is ISIS and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed and Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated," Netanyahu said.
It is worth noting that at least 150 hostages have been taken in Gaza during Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes, and some 338,000 people have been displaced, according to the BBC.
On Wednesday, Gaza's only power plant ran out of fuel, meaning the territory is relying on generators.
Translation Iurie Tataru
