The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that his government had submitted to the other member states of the United Nations Security Council a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was declared in the Gaza Strip, which will be “linked to the release of hostages from Hamas” still held in the enclave, he told Saudi media in an interview.

“We submitted (…) a draft resolution which is currently before the Security Council and which calls for an immediate ceasefire to be declared, which will linked to the release of the hostages and we have high hopes that the (other) countries (- its members) will support it,” the head of American diplomacy told the Saudi media outlet Al-Hadath (“The Event”), on the sidelines of his visit to the kingdom mainly dedicated to Israel/Hamas war. He added that he hoped it would send a “strong message”.

For his part, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin the Third invited his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallad to consider alternatives in order to avoid launching a ground attack on Rafah, a city at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, on the closed border with Egypt, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge after being forcibly displaced from other areas of the enclave due to Israel/Hamas war since October 7.

According to a press release issued by his services, Mr. Austin told Mr. Gallant that there was a need to “consider alternatives to a major land operation” in the city.

Furthermore, the head of the American Pentagon reiterated that it is necessary more to be done to protect civilians and noted that there must be guarantees for the safety of American military personnel who will set up a temporary port on the shores of the Gaza Strip so that humanitarian aid can be delivered via a sea corridor from Cyprus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long announced the ground attack on Rafah, said yesterday that preparations for it may take some more time. However, he has repeatedly said that the attack will be carried out so that, according to him, Hamas will be crushed in what characterizes its “last” stronghold.

As the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip worsens and the civilian death toll continues to rise, Washington’s tone it has started to become noticeably sharper in recent weeks.

At the same time, Washington has not stopped seeing itself as Israel’s protectorate and continues to supply the Israeli army with weapons, ammunition and other equipment, offered either as international aid or through contracts.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense clarified, however, that, unlike Canada, the US has no intention of suspending arms exports to Israel.