TEL AVIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Benjamin Netanyahu he understood on a personal level ‘the harrowing echoes that Hamas’ massacres carry for Israeli Jews’ and Washington was at Israel’s side, as he began a Middle East trip also aimed at containing the conflict.
From a podium next to the Israeli Prime Minister at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Thursday, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint in its retaliation, in his most detailed comments on the conflict so far, asking that it take every possible precaution to protect civilian life.
Washington’s top diplomat embarked on a multi-country Middle East tour as Israel unleashes the most powerful bombing campaign in the 75-year history of its conflict with the Palestinians, vowing to annihilate Hamas - which rules the Gaza Strip - in retribution for the militants’ weekend attacks.
He also offered an emotional, personal aside, recounting how his grandfather fled pogroms in Russia and his stepfather survived Nazi concentration camps.
Israel has vowed retribution for the deadliest attack on Jewish civilians in its history, when hundreds of Hamas gunmen poured across the barrier fence and rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday.
A senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Washington was working to advance talks on providing a safe passage to civilians, including around 500 to 600 Palestinian Americans resident in Gaza.
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