As Israel escalates war on Gaza, US warns diplomats against 'ceasefire' talk
As the Israeli regime brutally escalates its indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip, the US State Department has warned American diplomats against making any mention of a potential "ceasefire" in their public statements.
The warning was issued in a message seen by the HuffPost that was circulated on Friday to all US diplomats "working on Middle East issues."
Citing the contents of the message, the American news website said, "High-level [American] officials do not want press materials to include three specific phrases, 'de-escalation/ceasefire,' 'end to violence/bloodshed,' and 'restoring calm.'"
Calling up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists, the Israeli regime has declared a "long" war on Gaza in response to Operation al-Aqsa Storm. Gaza's resistance movements initiated the operation on Saturday in response to the occupying regime's decades-long campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.
As many as 1,799 Palestinians, including 583 children and 351 women, have been martyred and more than 7,000 others injured since the regime launched the war against the coastal sliver.
The military campaign has seen the regime leveling entire districts and featured its use of banned white phosphorous munitions against densely-populated neighborhoods.
The regime is simultaneously employing an all-out siege against the Palestinian territory. The blockade has choked up the flow of foodstuffs, medicines, and fuel towards the sliver, and disrupted its supply of water and electricity.
Addressing the issue of the Friday memo, the HuffPost said, "The revelation provides a stunning signal about the [US President Joe] Biden administration’s reluctance to push for Israeli restraint as the close US partner expands the offensive..."
It also reminded that US officials had so far "avoided discussion of a ceasefire, even as aid groups and some analysts have suggested that may be essential to allow civilians to flee Gaza and allow vital supplies to enter the area after Israel cut off electricity and water that the strip usually relies on."
This is while "as Israel’s biggest source of diplomatic and military support, the US has significant leverage" in the matter of how the occupying regime chooses to seek reprisal, and whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to limit the civilian toll of his response, the website noted.
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