US wants real, extended pauses in fighting in Gaza, Blinken says

BRUSSELS: The United States wants real and extended pauses in fighting in Gaza so assistance can get to people who need it, but the best way to help people would be to end the war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

"Israel, by the standards it set itself, has accomplished the goals that it set for itself," Blinken told reporters during a visit to Brussels. "This should be a time to end the war."

On Tuesday, after the expiry of a 30-day U.S. deadline for Israel to take steps to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Washington said Israel was not blocking aid to Gaza and therefore not violating U.S. law.

Eight international aid groups said Israel had failed to meet the U.S. demands to improve access for assistance. Food security experts have said it is likely that famine is imminent in parts of Gaza.

Biden, whose term ends in January and who will be replaced with his predecessor Donald Trump, has strongly backed Israel since Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.

Since then, more than 43,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza, with 2 million displaced people and much of the strip reduced to rubble.

Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.

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