Israel-Hamas War: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the Israeli government has shared photos of the Hamas attack with the US. Blinken expressed anguish over the pictures and said it was beyond anything anybody would want to see. He called it the new "evidence of depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas".
"I've seen a baby, an infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their highway rooms. It almost defies comprehension," Blinken said.
"So, we did see, photographs and videos that, the Israeli government shared with us... It's hard to find the right words. It's beyond what anyone would ever wanna imagine much less actually see and god forbid experience," he added while describing the horrific photographs.
"The world is seeing new evidence of depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas -- depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities...Images are worth a thousand words, these images are maybe worth a million," the US Secretary of State said.
"On the Mediterranean situation in Gaza, I think it's first important to remember a fundamental issue that makes this complicated. Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields. Something that's not new, something that they've always done intentionally putting, civilians in harm's way to protect them to try to protect themselves or protect their structure or protect their weapons... Civilians should not be used in any way as the targets of military operations. They are not the target of Israel's operations," added the US Secretary, as quoted by ANI.
Meanwhile, the United States will arrange for charter flights to evacuate its citizens from Israel, the White House said Thursday, reported PTI. The agency stated that 27 American citizens have died in the attacks by Palestinian militant group.
"Beginning tomorrow, the United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe. They're still working through some of the details of that to assist U.S. citizens and their immediate family members who have, for whatever reason, not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country," said John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council at the White House.
The deadly war has so far claimed the lives of over 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers. In Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, over 1,400 people have been killed in Israel's offensive against the Palestinian militant group, according to authorities there, as per PTI.
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