US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Washington has yet to see enough information about Israel’s plans for Gazan reconstruction, JNS reported.
Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Blinken was asked how the Biden administration would ensure that US adversaries can’t take advantage of the “day after” the war in the Gaza Strip.
“We’ve told the Israelis that we expect them to develop their own plans, their own ideas,” Blinken replied. “We’ve not seen enough of that from Israel.”
The Secretary of State said that Washington is “determined not to be outpaced” and has been working with Arab allies since January on plans for what to do if Hamas accepts a ceasefire proposal.
He also outlined the U. vision for post-war Gaza, saying, “There are three things that are unacceptable for Gaza’s future: an Israeli occupation, Hamas perpetuating its leadership or chaos, anarchy, lawlessness. Absent concrete plans to have an alternative to that, one of those three things is going to happen.”
“Given all of the extraordinary suffering that we’ve seen to date, that should be unacceptable,” he added, according to JNS. “It’s unacceptable to us.”
Commenting on the tense situation along Israel’s northern border, Blinken said, “Israel has effectively lost sovereignty in the northern quadrant of its country because people don’t feel safe to go to their homes.”
He added that ending hostilities in Gaza could also enable a diplomatic solution with Hezbollah that would see the terror group withdraw its forces from the Israel-Lebanon border area and halt its rocket fire into Israel.
“By the way, the Red Sea, the Houthis, same thing—Iran, Iranian-aligned militia groups,” he added. “So much of this is tied to Gaza. And I think it underscores why it’s clearly in the strategic interests of Israel as well to effectively bring this to a close.”