US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday renewed opposition to territorial changes in the Gaza Strip as Israel pounds the territory following a Hamas attack.
Blinken, on a visit to Nigeria, was responding to repeated suggestions that Israel would create a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip, a prospect that has stirred anger in the Arab world.
Blinken voiced understanding for temporary measures, saying that Israel had the right to prevent a repeat of the massive Hamas attack on October 7 and to reassure people in border areas.
“It is totally appropriate, something that we support, that those people be able to return to their homes and that the necessary security arrangements be in place to give them the confidence to do that,” Blinken told reporters in Abuja.
“If there need to be transitional arrangements to enable that to happen, that’s one thing,” Blinken said.
“But when it comes to the permanent status of Gaza going forward, we have been very clear, we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” he said.
The United States has been the main military and diplomatic backer of Israel, although it has pleaded to Israel to do more to protect civilians.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of around 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
More than 25,400 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive since October 7, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry.
