U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Israel and Palestinians to “protect civilians, especially children”.
“We’ll continue to conduct intensive diplomacy to bring this current cycle of violence to an end” and “we are ready to lend support, if the parties seek a ceasefire”, Mr. Blinken told a press conference in Copenhagen.
He reiterated U.S.’s support for Israel’s right “to defend itself”, stressing there was “no equivalence between a terrorist group indiscriminately firing rockets at civilians and a country defending its people from those attacks.”
“So we call on Hamas and other groups in Gaza to end the rocket attacks.”
However, he added that “Israel as a democracy has an extra burden to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties.”