Blinken seeks pauses in Gaza war as Israeli troops claim advances
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00:00 Antony Blinken spoke to reporters just before he left Israel. He talked about seeking concrete
00:07 steps to minimise civilian casualties in Israel and certainly expected to push the Israeli
00:14 government for what they call humanitarian pauses, being careful to avoid the language
00:20 of an actual ceasefire. I think you'll see Blinken making that case. And indeed,
00:27 we've heard Joe Biden say that a few days ago he personally intervened with Benjamin Netanyahu
00:34 to bring about at least a temporary humanitarian pause that allowed for the release of American
00:40 hostages. And I think Blinken will argue further such pauses can not only potentially lead to the
00:47 release of more hostages, but are also vital to getting humanitarian aid into the civilian
00:53 populations. Food, water, medicine, fuel, all of course, running desperately low and much in need.
01:03 Blinken told reporters there are currently about 50 to 60 trucks of such supplies getting into
01:10 Gaza, but there is certainly need for much more than that. So I think the plan they're
01:17 outlining is very localised, very temporary pauses in airstrikes, other military actions,
01:25 just so that potentially hostages can come out the 8th and get in. And there's a way to try
01:32 and minimise civilian casualties, which are obviously causing increasing unrest around the
01:37 world and also growing pressure on Joe Biden domestically in the US.