Blinken urged Israeli leaders to publicly refute ‘General’s Plan’ to isolate north Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in talks Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized the “seriousness” of US warnings to increase aid to Palestinians in Gaza, a US official says.

“They recognize the seriousness with which we have expressed our concern about the current situation, and are committed to responding to it and acting upon requests,” says the official during a briefing with reporters after Blinken, who had warned of withholding aid to Israel in a recent letter, met top Israeli leaders including Netanyahu in Jerusalem earlier today.

Blinken also discussed with Netanyahu the mechanisms to be put in place, including “transitional structures” needed for postwar governance in Gaza, the US official says.

Israeli leaders told Blinken it is not the country’s policy to isolate northern Gaza, the US official says.

The clarification is issued after Israel blocked aid from reaching northern Gaza for two weeks at the beginning of the month as it reportedly sought to implement the so-called “General’s Plan,” which envisions the IDF laying siege to northern Gaza in order to snuff out remaining Hamas fighters.

The IDF denied that this was its policy and said earlier today that it has allowed 237 trucks into Gaza over the past nine days following a directive from the political echelon. That directive followed international uproar over the apparent isolation of northern Gaza.

Israeli leaders told Blinken in today’s meetings that they have not been trying to implement the General’s Plan.

“We said, okay, then you should go to greater lengths to say that publicly,” the US official tells reporters.