Iran Press/ West Asia: Israeli regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday pushed back against growing US pressure for a “humanitarian pause” in the nearly month-old war to protect civilians and allow more aid into Gaza, insisting there would be no temporary cease-fire until the roughly 240 prisoners of war held by Hamas are released.
Meanwhile, Iran has said the US aid to Israel and providing political cover for the regime’s war on Gaza show America is actively contributing to the genocide of the Palestinian nations at the hands of the regime.
“America has proven that it is still a determining part of the continuation of the all-out conflict, war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian nation and not part of the solution to the crisis,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani wrote in a post on the X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.
He referred to the US House of Representatives ratifying a $14.3 billion aid to the regime, visits by American officials to Israel and officials opposing a ceasefire there.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating American support for Israel’s relentless bombing campaign against Palestinians in Gaza.
Alarm has grown over spiraling Palestinian deaths and deepening misery for civilians from weeks of Israeli bombardment and a widening ground assault that risks even greater casualties. Overwhelmed hospitals say they are nearing collapse, with medicine and fuel running low under the Israeli siege. About 1.5 million people in Gaza, or 70% of the population, have fled their homes, the United Nations said Friday.
Palestinians are increasingly desperate for the most basic supplies.
The average Gaza resident is now surviving on two pieces of bread per day, much of it made from stockpiled UN flour, said Thomas White, Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Demands for drinking water are also growing.
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