Photo: Mohammed Ali/Xinhua
BAGHDAD, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, has been ongoing for six months. In the midst of this tragedy, the actions of the United States, a key ally of Israel, have raised serious concerns and criticism from the international community.
While Washington claims to be advocating a ceasefire in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, its actions have repeatedly contradicted its words. In the most recent case, when the US verbally criticized Israel for killing seven aid workers for the international food charity World Central Kitchen in Gaza on April 1, it authorized the transfer of more than 1,000 500-pound MK-82 bombs and more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel on the same day.
It has become clear that Washington's criticism of Israel serves only as a smokescreen to deflect the pressure of world public opinion, as its true position has been exposed by the continued supply of arms to Israel during the Gaza conflict.
For U.S. policymakers, the political obligation to protect their ally from accountability outweighs the urgent need to end the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The conflict in Gaza has already cost the lives of more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. And the UN warned in March that 1.1 million people in Gaza, half the population, are struggling with hunger because of the suffocating blockade imposed by Israel.
On 5 April, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on countries to stop supplying arms to Israel. However, the United States opposed it because it is a key supplier of arms to Israel. According to former and current US officials, the US has organised more than 100 individual arms transfers to Israel since the Gaza conflict broke out, only two of which have been made public.
On 25 March, the UN Security Council finally adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after the US repeatedly blocked previous UN resolutions aimed at achieving a ceasefire. To everyone's surprise, the US, which abstained, declared the resolution "non-binding", even though UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding.
The words and actions of the US government regarding the Gaza conflict have not only challenged the authority of the UN Security Council, but have also hampered international efforts to restore peace in Gaza.
In response to mounting international pressure, the US has played a political peacemaking show, sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials to the region several times to broker a ceasefire in Gaza that should be easily achieved if Washington really wants it. And the U.S. has also sent airlifts of humanitarian aid to Gaza, but these pale in comparison to the massive arms deliveries to Israel.
The international community is waiting for fewer empty gestures and more concrete actions from the US to take at least the first step towards stopping the supply of arms to Israel.
Xinhua/gnews.cz-JaV_07
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