The #UnitedStates is actively weighing whether to lift one of #POTUS#Biden’s longest-held precautionary measures of the #Ukraine war: a ban on the use of #US provided #weapons for offensive strikes inside #Russia.
The reassessment is a byproduct of Russia’s renewed cross-border assault on #Kharkiv, a chorus of pressure from #EU ofcls & a visit to Kyiv by Secy of State #Blinken that reinforced the peril facing Ukraine….
The ICJ rulings last week as to Israel also included rulings as to Hamas; including a cease fire order and an order that Hamas release all Israeli hostages. The US through Anthony #Blinken said that Israel can ignore the ICJ rulings directed to it. I assume Blinken is also directing Hamas to ignore the rulings against it, to keep fighting, and to continue holding the Israeli hostages.
Inside the White House, a Debate Over Letting #Ukraine Shoot #US Weapons Into #Russia
After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging the president to lift restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.
After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secy of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging #POTUS#Biden to lift some restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.
WTAF: #US Secretary of State #Blinken warned if United Nations recognizes #Palestine as an independent State, United States, allies and affiliated businessmen will cut funding for #UN, thus cutting United Nations ability to run huminitarian aid for Global South countries.
He is threatening the world on behalf of #Israel, while pretending that they support a 2 state solution.
This is the most outrageous comment I've ever read from Blinken. I'm not sure if it's accurate, because the only source is the post on ShiTwitter:https://x.com/halalflow/status/1792944530389393422
🇺🇸 Secretary of State Antony #Blinken directed his top staff to crack down on leaks about diplomacy relating to the #Israel#Hamas#war, saying clearly that he was “angry” with the constant stream of #press reports revealing sensitive information - a new leak can reveal
Not only did classified materials make it into the press, he chided State leadership earlier this month in a small team meeting, but also fresh proposals to broker a cease-fire and ⏩
So #Blinken sits in with #Ukrainian band playing "Rockin' in the Free World." Uh, yeah, that's great, but the song title belies the song's true meaning. Sort of like "Born in the USA," isn't a full-throated endorsement of American militarism.
This may not be as bad as #TFG using it in campaigns. #NeilYoung
US politicians step up condemnation of Israel over Gaza
Connecticut Democrat Chris #Murphy, a member of the Senate foreign relations committee, warned that Hamas was likely to become stronger if Israel waged an all-out assault in Rafah.
“I want #Hamas gone,” Murphy said. “I don’t want them to ever have the ability to hit Israel again. ⭐️[But] I worry that the number of civilians that are dying are ultimately going to provide permanent recruiting material to Hamas, and it will be a threat for years to come.
“We cannot have an invasion of Rafah that ends up in tens of thousands of additional civilians dying. ⭐️That will be bad for Israel from a moral and strategic standpoint.”
He continued: “So I am certainly willing to call out Israel when I think that they have made strategic and moral mistakes in this war. We should [also] be calling out Hamas for the attacks that began this war, the way in which they have violated the rules of engagement, and the fact that the quickest route to end this war is for Hamas to surrender and protect the people of Gaza.”
Murphy’s comments amounted to some of the strongest criticism yet by a centrist US politician against Israel, which the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday had now killed more than 35,000 people in strikes since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
Stronger condemnation came from Vermont Democratic senator Bernie #Sanders, a member of the party’s progressive wing.
“Any objective observer knows Israel has ⭐️broken international law … has ⭐️broken American law – and in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickel in US military aid,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press, adding that Hamas was “a terrible, disgusting terrorist organization that began this war”.
Meanwhile, #Blinken’s commentary was considerably more measured. In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, the Joe Biden White House’s top diplomat said it is “reasonable to assess that in certain instances Israel acted in ways that are⭐️ not consistent” with international humanitarian laws.
Blinken’s comments on Sunday came after #Biden threatened to ⭐️stop supplying Israel with weapons if it invaded Rafah.
That came as the White House said the US had stopped the transfer of 3,500 high payload “dumb” bombs over concerns of the growing number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
Blinken stopped short of explicitly accusing Israel of violating international law as it pursued its offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
He said it was “critical” to note that Israel itself has accountability processes – and there were hundreds of active inquiries as well as criminal investigations into different incidents, showing Israel had “the ability, means and the actions to self-correct.
“It had been very difficult to determine, particularly in the midst of war, exactly what happened and to draw final conclusions from any one incident,” he said, adding that the US was avoiding any firm assessment over a potential breach because Hamas “hides behind as well as underneath civilian populations, in schools and hospitals”.
BREAKING: Secretary of State #Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes
A special State Department panel told Blinken that the U.S. should restrict arms sales to #Israeli military units that have been credibly accused of human rights abuses. He has not taken any action.
A special State Department panel told Secretary of State Antony #Blinken that the U.S. should restrict arms sales to Israeli military units that have been credibly accused of human rights abuses. He has not taken any action.
US Secretary of State Antony #Blinken warns that #Israel risks becoming #indistinguishable from #Hamas if it continues to fail to protect civilians amid the Gaza war.
“What happened after October 7 could have ended immediately if Hamas had stopped hiding behind civilians, released the hostages and put down its weapons,
but Israel is not Hamas.
Israel is a democracy;
Hamas, a terrorist organization. Democracies place the highest value on human life, every human life.
As it has been said, whoever saves a life, saves the entire world,” Blinken says during a press conference in Brussels, quoting a Jewish proverb.
“That’s our strength. It’s what distinguishes us from terrorists like Hamas.
If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.”
Israel killed 5 World Central Kitchen workers today.
Israel needs to be cut off and stopped. Whatever defense support they may have had is gone.
I hated what they were doing before, but now I am actively against Israel.
They are on their own.
Let the world work together to stop Netanyahu.
#Blinken should end up in The Hague, with Netanyahu, Biden and the rest
By amplifying ZAKA's unsubstantiated claims without corroborating evidence from impartial sources, Blinken tacitly lent credibility to an infamously unreliable organization. However, Blinken's and others' willingness to broadcast selectively curated information aligns the U.S. stance with Israeli propaganda efforts to reframe defensive Palestinian resistance as unwarranted aggression. Blinken's actions normalized the marginalization of Palestinian perspectives and enabled the systemic information asymmetry that nurtures the cyclical perpetuation of the Israeli occupation's oppressive status quo in Gaza, which is reaching its worst possible conclusion right before our eyes.
Bassem: THEY LIED . THEY LIED . THEY STILL DO. They lied so the world can accept the atrocities they are doing now . They lied . Their media said they lied . And the western media didn’t even bother reporting on that . Shame on you @cnn@bbcnews@skynews@msnbc@foxnews@france24@dwnews
Pro-Palestine protest outside Blinken's house. Blinken complained that demonstrators were scaring his children ... the answer to that is on everybody's lips right now.