Image source - edition.cnn.com
"Casualties are often reduced to numbers. But behind every number is a human being -- a daughter, a son, a father, a mother, a grandparent, a best friend. And as the Talmud teaches, to lose a life is to lose the whole world, whether that life is Palestinian or Israeli," stated by US Secretary of state Antony Blinken
On a trip to the Middle East planned to look upon last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, Antony Blinken announced the Biden administration would ask Congress for $75m (£53m) in aid for Palestinians, including $5.5m in immediate aid for rebuilding Gaza. Blinken reiterated that Washington intended to ensure that Hamas, which is considered as a terrorist organisation, did not benefit from the humanitarian aid.
Image source - jns.org
Blinken and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had a detailed discussion about Israel's security needs, including re-supplying the Iron Dome aerial defense system with rocket interceptors. Blinken also spoke about the right of Israelis and Palestinians, who he said "equally deserve to live safely and securely, to enjoy equal measures of freedom, opportunity and democracy, to be treated with dignity," but he did not specifically mention the two-state solution or suggest that comprehensive peace negotiations were imminent.
Israeli authorities said earlier that they were allowing fuel, medicine and food for Gaza's private sector to enter the territory for the first time since the fighting ended. Blinken said rebuilding Gaza, where infrastructure including power and water supplies and the only Covid testing center were destroyed in airstrikes, was critical to preventing more fighting.
Mr Blinken also announced the reopening of a consulate in Jerusalem - a move that restores ties with Palestinians and marks a major shift from the administration of Donald Trump. The former president put the Palestinians under the authority of his ambassador to Israel when he relocated the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars. The Israeli government has not yet published its estimate for the damages, but many buildings and vehicles were damaged by rocket-fire.