(JNS) Hamas is to blame for the destruction in the Gaza Strip, but Washington had to—and still has to—pressure the Jewish state to allow aid to reach Palestinians, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN on Monday.
“We cannot forget that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and their actions in Israel were terrorist actions. The Palestinian people are suffering because of what Hamas did to them,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “There was not this level of conflict in Gaza before the Hamas attack.”
“That said, Israel has a responsibility to provide security and to avoid endangering civilians,” she added.
Speaking at length on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Thomas-Greenfield said that the Biden administration “worked with the Israelis, and put pressure on the Israelis,” to allow for greater amounts of humanitarian aid to go freely through Gaza. “We continue to work on those efforts,” she added.
Fredricka Whitfield, of CNN, asked Thomas-Greenfield about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling American leftists who support Hamas “useful idiots” during his address to a joint session of Congress last week. “What did you make of the demeanor of the language?” Whitfield asked. “Did that upstage any potential hope that he may have brought on his visit?”
The U.S. envoy skirted the question. “I think we have to continue to press the Israeli government and to continue to have hope that this will achieve the desired result that we want to see, and that is that there is a cessation of hostilities, and hostages are brought home, and Palestinians’ suffering ends,” she said. “So, this is our hope.”
Thomas-Greenfield said that she is “confident” that a ceasefire and hostage deal is within reach based on discussions with Egyptian and Qatari negotiators, and that U.S. President Joe Biden’s new lame-duck status could actually advance a solution, rather than hinder one.
“Because it’s short, the commitment to getting it done is even more intense, and it’s stronger than if we thought we had years to get it done,” she said. “The president is committed, and we’re going to get everything done that we need to get done in these next six months.”
Biden “has charged his entire team to put our foot to the pedal and charge forward and get these things done, and that’s one of the issues that he’s put on all of our plates,” she added.
Thomas-Greenfield predicted that if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the next president, “I don’t see that we’re going to see a massive, sort of, redirection in our foreign policy.”
“My guess is what will happen is that it’s going to be a recommitment to achieving some of the same goals,” she said. “How those goals are pursued may be different, because they are different.”
Israeli officials criticized Harris last week after she delivered remarks, which they said were critical of Israel’s actions and efforts to end the war, following her meeting with Netanyahu at the White House.
