During an interview with “PBS NewsHour” aired on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to polling showing increasing American criticism of Israel’s military response to the October 7 attack by saying that while he understands why people are heartbroken by the loss of life in Gaza, “I don’t hear the hue and cry for Hamas to respect international humanitarian law, for Hamas to maybe get out of the buildings, to get out of the hospitals, to get out of the schools so that civilians aren’t in danger, for Hamas to surrender. That would protect Palestinian civilians immediately. I’m not hearing anyone say that.”
Co-host Amna Nawaz asked, “To your point on the loss of life, the U.S. equivalent of the Gazan loss of life would be over 1.5 million people. And, as you have noted, watching that death toll rise, as you said, watching children pulled from the rubble, that guts you every time. Americans are increasingly feeling that way too. I just want to put to you our latest poll numbers from this week when people were asked about their response, Israel’s response to the Hamas attack. 38%…said the Israeli response has been ‘about right,’ but 38% also said the Israeli response has been too much. And that number is up 12% from — or 12 points, rather, from just a month ago. So, I wonder what you would say to Americans who are increasingly uncomfortable with Israel’s conduct in the war and U.S. support of it.”
Blinken responded, “I think so many of us feel the same way. This is incredibly gut-wrenching and it’s heartbreaking. But we also have to ask ourselves, what would we do and what would any country do when faced with this terrorist organization that had slaughtered its people and then said, very clearly, that it intended to do it again and again and again, if given the ability to do that, the capacity and the ability to do that? And that’s the problem that Israel has to deal with. It’s a problem that any of us have to deal with.”
He continued, “The other thing is, I don’t hear the hue and cry for Hamas to respect international humanitarian law, for Hamas to maybe get out of the buildings, to get out of the hospitals, to get out of the schools so that civilians aren’t in danger, for Hamas to surrender. That would protect Palestinian civilians immediately. I’m not hearing anyone say that. The dilemma for any country in this situation is what to do to make sure that not only can you — are you defending your people, but you’re trying to make sure that this can’t happen again.”
Earlier in the interview, Blinken stated, “Israel has an absolute obligation to do everything possible to avoid harming civilians. And, as you know, they’ve opened up corridors so that people could get out of harm’s way. More than a million people have left Gaza City. They put in place some limited pauses to facilitate that. They brought in assistance to the hospitals themselves. But they can, they must do even more. And this is something that we’re on constantly.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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