Washington: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced plans to provide 135 million U.S. dollars in additional humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people during his tour in the Middle East on Thursday.
Blinken made the announcement in Qatar during his 11th visit to the region since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which has sparked a broader conflict in the region.
The United States has called on Israel to wind down the conflict following the recent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It urged the country to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, given the challenges of aid reaching Palestinian civilians in the northern part of the strip.
On Wednesday, Blinken told the press at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv that what the Israeli military has achieved in Gaza “has come at the cost — the great cost — of Palestinian civilians.”
Blinken stressed that “Israel has to maximize everything it has under its control in order to get the food in.”
