WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he can never forget the death of so many innocent children in Gaza, acknowledging the profound impact of the crisis on people across the globe.

“Every day for the rest of my life I will ask myself and think about the thousands of children who were killed in Gaza,” he said in a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This heartfelt admission underscores the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where civilians, especially women and children, have borne the brunt of the hostilities.

On Jan 20, a UN agency reported that women and children are main victims of the Gaza bombardment, with 16,000 killed.

The agency, UN Women, reported that by Jan 20 at least 3,000 women in Gaza had become widows and heads of households and at least 10,000 children had lost their fathers.

The Gazan health ministry says that nearly 27,500 Palestinians have been killed since Oct 7, 70 per cent of them women and children.

Secretary Blinken, who visited the Middle East this week for talks with regional leaders, conveyed his deep reflection on the tragic consequences during a meeting with Mr Netanyahu.

While the specifics of the conversation between Blinken and Netanyahu remain undisclosed, the broader message from the US State Department emphasises the belief that the civilian death toll in Gaza is unacceptably high.

At Thursday afternoon’s daily news briefing in Washington, State Department’s deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked to confirm and clarify Mr Blinken’s comments about the unprecedentedly high death toll of Palestinian children.

“I don’t have anything to offer to further characterise the Secretary’s meetings in Israel beyond what you heard him say,” said Mr Patel while responding to the journalist.

“What I can just say broadly is that we believe that the civilian death toll in Gaza has been far too high, and the impact that this military operation has had on civilians is far too high.”

He said the United States believes that it was “a moral and strategic imperative to minimise the impact on civilians” and that’s something Washington will continue to work towards.

In his remarks in Israel, Secretary Blinken noted that the Israelis were “dehumanised in the most horrific way” on Oct 7.

“The hostages (prisoners captured by Hamas) have been dehumanised every day since. But that cannot be a licence to dehumanise others,” he added.

Harm to non-combatants

Leaders across the world consider the impact of the Israeli military operation on civilians excessive and have been urging Israel to minimise harm to non-combatants.

On Friday, the United States warned Israel that staging a military offensive into Gaza’s southern city of Rafah without proper planning would be a “disaster”. Some 1.5 million Palestinians are surviving in the city bordering Egypt in dire humanitarian conditions.

The White House said it would not support major operations without due consideration for the refugees there.

The comments come days after Israel’s leader said the military had been told to prepare to operate in Rafah. On Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden said Israel’s act­ions in Gaza had been “over the top”. On Tuesday, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) warned that Israel’s invasion of the densely populated southern city of Rafah would constitute a war crime.

“We, as the UN and member states, can bear witness,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists.

“We can make it clear that under international humanitarian law, indiscriminate bombing of densely populated areas may amount to a war crime.”

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2024