The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas ended violent hostilities, but the repercussions of the 11-day war continue regionally and globally. Diplomatic discussions are ongoing as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his tour of the Middle East, reports Al Jazeera.
- On his tour, Blinken has met with officials in Israel, the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan to stabilize the current cease-fire between Israel and Hamas into a lasting agreement, reported The New York Times.
In the 11-day Gaza war, Israeli airstrikes left widespread destruction in impoverished Gaza and killed at least 254 Palestinians, including 66 children, injuring more than 1,900 Palestinians, reported Al Jazeera. Hamas rocket fire killed at least 12 Israelis, including two kids, according to the Deseret News.
Blinken continues Middle East tour, pledging further U.S. aid
Tuesday, Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are political rivals, said The New York Times. The meetings aimed to begin rebuilding U.S. relations with Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority, at the risk of diplomatic relations with Israel.
- The U.S. will reopen the general consulate in Jerusalem that served as the U.S. embassy for Palestinians, Blinken also announced Tuesday per Fox News.
- The U.S. pledged an additional $112 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians, Blinken announced per The New York Times.
- In total, the U.S. has pledged $360 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza but retains that the aid will not strengthen Hamas, reported Fox News.
Wednesday, Blinken met with the Egyptian president in Cairo and the Jordanian king in Amman, reported Al Jazeera. Blinken thanked the officials for their mediation and encouraged all parties to continue building on the cease-fire, reported Al Jazeera.
- According to The New York Times, no further comments have come from Blinken, Israeli officials or Hamas officials on the Al-Aqsa Mosque or other Jerusalem policies — key issues that led to the recent war and remain unresolved in the current cease-fire agreement.
Repercussion for Muslims in India
The recent war between Israel and Palestine has garnered international attention. In India, anti-Muslim hate speech and misinformation online have increased in response to the conflict, reported BuzzFeed News.
- The online anti-Muslim hate speech has included fake images and videos to spread misinformation about Palestinian Muslims, according to BuzzFeed News.
India has experienced a wider trend of anti-Muslim bias in its own national narratives, encouraged by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Anti-Muslim hate has become mainstream in India with many using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to promote their own narratives, reported BuzzFeed News.
- The recent war between Israel and Palestine has also stoked a rise of hate speech and antisemitism for Jews in the U.S., reported the Deseret News.
Amazon workers petition to end deal with Israeli Defense Forces
Wednesday over 500 Amazon employees signed a letter to Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy calling for the company to sever business deals with Israeli Defense Forces. The letter asked executives to terminate contracts with organizations complicit in human rights violation, The Verge reports.
- In April, Amazon and Google signed a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government for cloud computing, said The Verge.
Similar petitions asking executives to condemn hate speech related to the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict have come from Jewish employees at Apple and Muslim employees at Google, reported The Verge.