Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Tuesday the U.S. would ensure international aid towards rebuilding Gaza, ravaged after an 11-day war with Israel, would not "benefit" its Hamas rulers.
Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning to start his Middle East tour aimed at shoring up the Gaza ceasefire. He is also set to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and later visit Egypt and Jordan.
"We know that to prevent a return to violence we have to use the space created to address a larger set of underlying issues and challenges, and that begins with tackling the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza and starting to rebuild," he said following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
"We'll work with our partners closely, with all, to ensure that Hamas does not benefit from the reconstruction assistance."
He said he made it clear that U.S. fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against rockets fired from Gaza after the Biden administration was criticized by the progressive wing in the Democratic party for not taking a tougher stance on Israel.
"Whatever happens, Israel will always retain the right to defend itself," he said.
Blinken added that U.S. is consulting with Israel about a potential return to 2015 Iran nuclear deal. "That includes consulting closely with Israel as we did today on the ongoing negotiations in Vienna around a potential return to the Iran nuclear agreement."
"I hope that the United States will not go back to the old JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) because we believe that deal paves the way for Iran to have an arsenal of nuclear weapons with international legitimacy," Netanyahu said for his part.
Netanyahu also warned that Israel's response would be "very powerful" if Hamas violated the truce brokered with the help of Egypt. "If Hamas breaks the calm and attacks Israel, our response will be very powerful," the premier said.
In tandem with Blinken's mission, Israeli authorities said they were allowing fuel, medicine and food earmarked for Gaza's private sector to enter the territory for the first time since the hostilities began on May 10.