Protect civilians, US urges Israel and Palestine after media building razed

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on Monday, urged Israel and Palestinians to “protect civilians, especially children.” He further said that Israel “as a democracy has an extra burden” to do so. During a press conference, the US Secretary of State said that Washington will continue to conduct intensive diplomacy to bring the war to an end.

“We are ready to lend support, if the parties seek a ceasefire”, news agency AFP quoted Blinken as saying.

He reiterated Washington’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 immediately.”

However, he added that “Israel as a democracy has an extra burden to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties.”

Referring to the strike on a Gaza building that was housing international media outlets Al Jazeera television and US agency The Associated Press, Blinken said that journalists, too, should be protected.

The top US diplomat reiterated Washington’s concerns about protecting the media, but stopped short of condemning the strike.

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He said Washington had requested Israel provide “additional details regarding the justification” for the strike.

Blinken said he had not personally seen any information shared by Israeli authorities, and therefore did not want to comment on the legitimacy of the strike.

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“Israel has a special responsibility to protect civilians in the course of its self-defence, and that most certainly includes journalists,” he said.

Blinken also defended Washington’s move to block a UN Security Council declaration calling for an end to the hostilities.

“We’re not standing in the way of diplomacy,” Blinken stressed.