US says deploying peacekeepers to Palestine would harm Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas

Follow the latest news on the war in Gaza live

Washington focuses on the ceasefire, the release of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave

May 16. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States has stated this Thursday that the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the occupied Palestinian territories could jeopardize Israel’s objective of ending the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.

“The incorporation of additional security forces could potentially put that task in jeopardy,” deputy spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Vedant Patel, said in a press conference.

In this sense, he noted that the Joe Biden Administration has had conversations with countries in the region about possible “post-war” scenarios in Gaza. “Many partners, inside and outside the Arab world, have shared our concern and have expressed their willingness to play a constructive role,” he said.

Patel also stressed that many countries have concluded that “the conflict must first end.” “We need to see a ceasefire, the hostages released. We need more humanitarian aid and we need that space for diplomacy to occur,” he explained, adding that “first” we must opt ​​for that process.

His words come after the member countries of the Arab League have demanded this Thursday in a declaration signed in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the occupied Palestinian territories “until it is implemented the two-state solution.

On May 7, Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt – from where nearly 600,000 Palestinians have already fled -, suspending humanitarian operations, which has increased international concern. due to the deepening of the humanitarian crisis due to the offensive.

The Gaza authorities, controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), have put the number of Palestinians dead at around 35,300 due to the offensive launched by the Israeli Army after the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamist group and other militias. Palestinians against Israeli territory.