Discussing post-war plan for Gaza, its reconstruction: US claims
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed on Wednesday that a discussion is underway for a long-term plan for Gaza, without mentioning Washington’s military and financial support for the Israeli regime in its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken in a joint press conference with Sigrid Kaag, UN Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza said that we are discussing additional aid to the needy in Gaza as well as a post-war reconstruction plan for the Palestinian territory.
“The United Nations remains an essential partner, but the terrible allegations against some staff of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) should be taken into consideration”, Blinken told Kaag.
The UN official traveled to Washington, DC a day after she rejected an Israeli call for stripping the UNRWA of its authority in the Gaza Strip, saying there is no alternative to the agency assisting millions of Palestinians across the region.
Ironically, Blinken touched on yet still unfounded Israel allegation against UNRWA staff members but fell short of denouncing attacks on Gaza critical facilities including hospitals and UN-run schools that have now turned into the rubble.
Meanwhile, the spokesman and coordinator of strategic communications of the White House National Security Council announced constructive the current negotiations with Hamas, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar on the Gaza ceasefire and the prisoners’ exchange.
"Our goal is a long pause in the war in Gaza and the purpose of the long pause is to free as many hostages as possible”, John Kirby was quoted as saying.
Kirby however reaffirmed Washington’s military and financial support for the Israeli regime despite more than three months of genocidal war on Gaza that has claimed nearly 28,000 lives in Gaza, mostly women and children.
He was reacting following a meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister on Washington’s assistance and efforts to free the captives held in Gaza.
The official, in the statement, however, distracted from the US stance on an independent Palestinian state.
“We believe that the recognition of the Palestinian state should be done through direct negotiations between the two sides. We do not support the unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state in the United Nations”, he said, ignoring Washington’s policy of recognizing occupied lands as Zionist entities by the previous US administration.