Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed unwavering US support for Israel in its war on Hamas during a visit on Thursday, October 12, but said the Palestinians also have "legitimate aspirations" not represented by the Islamist militant group.
Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 150 hostages in their surprise onslaught from Gaza Saturday. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming over 1,350 lives.
Israel has deployed forces, tanks and other military hardware to the Gaza border, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists said, as it prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian territory after what has been labeled Israel's 9/11.
"You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself," Blinken said at a joint press conference in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side."
Israeli fighter jets and drones flew above Gaza City in the relentless bombardment that has leveled entire blocks and destroyed thousands of buildings, while Hamas had now fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel from Gaza, the army said. US 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," Blinken said. "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."
Netanyahu voiced appreciation for US support, which includes military aid, and said Hamas, which rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, should be treated like the Islamic State group.
"Just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated," Netanyahu said.
Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht said the military was readying for a potential order to launch a ground invasion in the war with Hamas: "This has not been decided yet (...) but we are preparing for a ground maneuver if it is decided (...) Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership," he said. Fears have grown for Gaza's 2.4 million people now enduring the fifth war in 15 years in the long-blockaded coastal enclave, which has also seen Israel cut off water, food and power supplies.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz vowed the total siege of Gaza would remain in force until the hostages are freed.
"Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home," he said. Gaza's hospitals "risk turning into morgues," said the International Committee of the Red Cross Middle East chief Fabrizio Carboni, stressing "the human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern about the "supercharged cycle of violence and horror," urged the release of all hostages and the lifting of the siege, and stressed that "civilians must be protected at all times."
There have been calls for a humanitarian corridor to allow Palestinians to escape ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion that would spell brutal urban combat and house-to-house fighting.
Israel has called up 300,000 reservists and rushed forces, tanks and heavy armor to the southern desert areas around Gaza from where Hamas launched their unprecedented attack on October 7. Israeli soldiers have since then swept the southern towns and kibbutz communities and killed 1,500 of the militants, while making ever more shocking discoveries of large numbers of dead civilians.
Israeli outrage has been further fuelled by Hamas's capture of at least 150 hostages -- mostly Israelis but also foreign and dual nationals -- now being held in Gaza. Hamas has threatened to kill hostages if Israel bombs Gaza civilian targets without advance warning -- deepening the anger and fear in shell-shocked Israel.
Israel's war now flaring in the south is further complicated by a threat from the north, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group based in Lebanon. The army has massed tanks on the border after repeated clashes with Hezbollah in recent days, including cross-border rockets and shelling.
The United States has sent munitions to Israel and deployed an aircraft carrier battle group to the eastern Mediterranean in a show of support, while warning Israel's other enemies not to enter the conflict. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that Washington has "not placed any conditions" on the way Israel can use the weapons it has provided to its ally.