(NewsReady.com) – The US and Israel have long been allies. While that continues to be true, the two countries have differing views on how Israel should handle the situation in Gaza. America has now made it very clear where it stands on a ceasefire.
On March 20, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about a UN resolution the US submitted. During a trip to Saudi Arabia, he said the resolution called for “an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages” in the Gaza Strip.
Later that day, Blinken gave an interview to a local news outlet and said that he believed other countries would support the resolution. He explained that he thought it would “send a strong message, a strong signal.” He also thinks Hamas and Israel are getting closer to a resolution to the conflict, and the “gaps are narrowing.”
The interviewer pushed back on Blinken’s calls for a ceasefire, saying some people might wonder how the US is pressuring Israel to stop its military campaign, while “supporting them financially and militarily.” The Saudi Arabian journalist also pointed out that President Joe Biden’s administration has vetoed other UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.
Blinken responded by claiming America stands with the Israeli government and “its right to defend itself” to make sure there’s never another attack like the one that took place on October 7. The terrorist attack left nearly 1,200 people in Israel dead, many of them young people and even some American citizens.
Hamas is currently believed to be holding more than 100 hostages, most of whom were kidnapped on October 7. It’s not clear how many of them are still alive, but the Israeli government wants them all back. There’s a concern, however, that Israel’s bombing campaign could kill them. Hamas has already attributed two of the deaths to Israeli bombs.
The US’s efforts with the draft resolution came to naught, however. The UN Security Council voted against that resolution on March 22.
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