Democratic lawmaker confronts Blinken over Gaza policy

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was confronted by a Democratic lawmaker Wednesday while testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the continued flow of weapons to Israel, despite its war crimes in Gaza.

Joaquin Castro, the representative from Texas, sharply criticized the "inhumane" actions by the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing it of committing war crimes through the repeated targeting of civilians in Gaza, including those in camps, hospitals and churches.

In his questioning, Castro said: “We condemned (the Palestinian group) Hamas in the harshest terms, sanctioned Hamas and other terrorist groups, and warned anybody about sitting with them. At the same time, what we've seen from the Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, has been inhumane. In fact, it’s amounted to war crimes.”

Castro also criticized the US failure to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, suggesting that more leverage should have been applied to Netanyahu’s government reminiscent of the tactics used by former President Ronald Reagan, who withheld offensive weapons to influence Israeli policy.

“The world is much more transparent now...The world can see the inhumanity on both sides," he said.

"We've taken action to go after Hamas, to label them as terrorists, to sanction them, what we can to stop them. But we have not done enough to stop Benjamin Netanyahu and what he's doing to the Palestinians. And my question is whether you believe we should have done anything differently."

In his response, Blinken acknowledged the complexity of the situation.

“For us, for me, there'll be a lot of time to look back and ask ourselves whether we could and should have done things differently,” he said.

He defended the US’s actions, emphasizing efforts to prevent further escalation, protect civilians and prevent a wider war involving the Lebanese group Hezbollah, Iran and other groups.

He emphasized that since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel, their three main objectives have been "to ensure that Oct. 7 would never happen again, to prevent a wider war from taking place" and to protect civilians.

"We've worked every single day to do that. I've also been to the region 12 times since Oct. 7. I'm heading back in an hour or two to continue the efforts to get a cease-fire and hostage agreement to get the hostages home, to get the guns to stop firing, to put Gaza on a better path, and meanwhile, to try to make sure that people have the assistance they so desperately need," he continued.

When pressed by other representatives regarding whether President Joe Biden has done enough to support Israel, Blinken noted that Biden was the first US president to visit Israel during a time of war, underscoring US efforts to bolster Israeli defense, particularly in response to Iranian attacks.

Asked about a possible cease-fire and hostage exchange deal in Gaza, Blinken said the efforts are "ongoing."

Blinken's testimony came hours before his flight to the region, where he will visit Jordan and Türkiye to discuss regional issues, including developments in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon.