Blinken reportedly green lit Israeli policy authorizing bombing of Gaza aid trucks

Tel Aviv, Israel - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been accused of approving an Israeli policy to permit the blowing up of aid trucks bound for the besieged people of Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (l.) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (l.) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  © RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP / POOL

According to a report by Yaniv Cogan published on Drop Site News, Blinken was directly involved in October 2023 negotiations green lighting an Israeli government policy allowing the military to strike any humanitarian aid convoy it said was linked to Hamas.

"The [Security] Cabinet deliberated for hours over the precise wording of the decision, with each draft being passed between the Cabinet room and Blinken's room, a distance of a few meters away, inside the Kirya…. Eventually, around 3 AM, they arrive at an agreed upon text that is read in the Cabinet room in English," Israel's Channel 12 reporter Yaron Avraham posted on X last October 17 (Cogan's translation).

A correspondent for Israel's Channel 13 News confirmed on X the reports of Blinken's direct involvement in the negotiations.

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The following day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the policy in a Hebrew-language statement, warning: "Any supplies that reach Hamas will be thwarted."

The Israeli government has gone on to use that policy to justify the targeting of aid convoys permitted to enter the Gaza Strip, including the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers who were bombarded during a delivery operation coordinated with the Israeli military.

The State Department has denied approving any attacks on humanitarian aid convoys or workers but has upheld Israel's "right" to strike Hamas militants.

Blinken accused of complicity in Israel's genocide

Palestinians representing civil organizations for women hold signs with an image of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reading "War Criminal" during a protest outside the UN offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Palestinians representing civil organizations for women hold signs with an image of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reading "War Criminal" during a protest outside the UN offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah.  © Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP

The Drop Site News report follows the resignation of Stacy Gilbert, a career State Department official, who left her position in May over what she described as the Biden-Harris administration's cover-up of Israeli obstruction of aid to Gaza.

Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed their intention to severely limit or outright block humanitarian assistance from reaching Gaza.

The latest revelations about Blinken's reported role come as the Biden-Harris administration has continues to provide diplomatic cover and billions in military aid to Israel despite a year of sustained calls for a weapons embargo.

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Blinken along with President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were accused by Palestinians and Palestinian Americans of complicity in genocide in a bombshell lawsuit filed last November.

A federal judge in Oakland dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds in late January. Despite the unfavorable result, the ruling upheld that there is a likely case of genocide happening in Gaza with "unflagging support" from the Biden-Harris administration.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in July affirmed the dismissal. The court last week denied a petition to review the case.

Meanwhile, Israel – with the aid of US weaponry – has killed at least 41,909 Palestinians in Gaza over the last year, although the true number is assumed to be far higher. The Israeli blockade has subjected the remaining population to disease, starvation, and recurring mass displacements.

Cover photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP / POOL

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