Blinken Says Israel Needs a Clear and Concrete Plan for Gaza’s Future

 People walk in front of a devastated school building in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the Palestinian territory on May 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
People walk in front of a devastated school building in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the Palestinian territory on May 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Blinken Says Israel Needs a Clear and Concrete Plan for Gaza’s Future

 People walk in front of a devastated school building in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the Palestinian territory on May 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
People walk in front of a devastated school building in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the Palestinian territory on May 15, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for the future of Gaza where it faces the potential for a power vacuum that could become filled by chaos, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

The remarks drew an apparent Israeli riposte, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying post-war planning was impossible without first completing the demolition of Hamas.

Washington and Israel agree that Hamas cannot continue to run Gaza after the Palestinian group's gunmen ignited the conflict with a cross-border killing and kidnapping spree last October.

But the allies are at odds over Israel's quest for "total victory" over Hamas, including in the southern city of Rafah, where the United States has warned against any major operation that might endanger displaced Palestinians massing there.

"We do not support and will not support an Israeli occupation. We also of course, do not support Hamas governance in Gaza ... We’ve seen where that's led all too many times for the people of Gaza and for Israel. And we also can't have anarchy and a vacuum that's likely to be filled by chaos," Blinken said during a press conference in Kyiv.

The US top diplomat has held numerous rounds of talks with Israel's Arab neighbors on a post-war plan for Gaza. Israel says it intends to keep overall security control and has balked at proposals for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which wields limited rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to take charge.

"It's imperative that Israel also do this work and focus on what the future can and must be," Blinken said. "There needs to be a clear and concrete plan, and we look to Israel to come forward with its ideas."

In a statement, Netanyahu appeared to push back against the criticism, though he did not refer directly to Blinken.

Israel, he said, has sought out Palestinians not aligned with Hamas to take charge of local civic management in Gaza - only to see them deterred by threats of Hamas retaliation.

"All the talk about 'the day after', while Hamas remains intact, will remain mere words devoid of content," Netanyahu said. "Contrary to what is being claimed, for months we have been engaged in various efforts to resolve this complex problem. Some of the efforts are covert and it is good that this is so."

Citing widespread support among Palestinians for the Oct. 7 attack, Netanyahu said, in an apparent reference to the PA: "We will not allow them to establish a terrorist state from which they will be able to vigorously attack us."



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.