BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated on Friday that the US does not agree to any reoccupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel or any shrinking of Palestinian territory.
Blinken’s comments were in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s post-war plan for Gaza, in which the defeat of Hamas would give the country’s military “unfettered freedom” to operate across the Gaza Strip.
“Gaza… cannot be a platform for terrorism. There should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. The size of Gaza should not be reduced,” Blinken said after attending a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Buenos Aires, Brazil.
Blinken spoke out against Israel’s right to “self-defense” after three Palestinians opened fire on a car near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, killing one and wounding eight others.
Palestinians have expressed their displeasure at the worsening restrictions Israel has imposed on the West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a “decisive security response and decolonization” by building thousands of new homes in settlements such as Ma’ale Adumim and throughout the West Bank.
Blinken said that “new settlements are counterproductive to achieving lasting peace and are also contrary to international law,” adding, “Our administration stands firmly against the expansion of settlements. In our judgment, this only weakens, not strengthens, Israel’s security. “
