Ilhan Omar slams Blinken’s 'humiliation' after no truce deal reach during latest visit to Israel

Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar blasted the “humiliation” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken endured during his recent trip to Israel, where he failed to secure a breakthrough for a Gaza ceasefire deal, Anadolu reported.

“Now ask yourselves, how does our secretary of state travel 11 times begging for an end to a situation that we truly have continued to provide the bombs and the weapons that are creating that situation,” the Minnesota representative told the Uncommitted movement’s press conference in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday.

“How do we allow our secretary of state to go into Israel and say we are close to securing a ceasefire now for the 11th time, to leave for Egypt, only for [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu to have a press conference right after him and say we are not taking a deal?” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to demonstrate our party’s courage and commitment to ending the genocide not just in condemning it with words, but in action by conditioning aid.

A better world is possible, but we must have the courage to fight for it. pic.twitter.com/2fQvpmCX7X

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 21, 2024

“How are we not ashamed that that is the humiliation that our administration’s representatives are faced with? It’s not just the hypocrisy of saying we respect international law, but humiliation,” she added.

Omar also criticised the Biden administration for “refusing to recognise the genocidal war” that is taking place in Gaza, adding: “Working tirelessly for a ceasefire is really not a thing, and they should be ashamed of themselves for saying such thing, because we supply these weapons.”

“So if you really want a ceasefire, you just stop sending the weapons,” she added.

Speaking at the same event, Missouri Representative Cori Bush, who lost the Democratic primary to challenger St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who was backed by pro-Israel lobby groups, called on her Democratic colleagues to uphold their values.

Israel: sources accuse Blinken of sabotaging Gaza ceasefire talks

Bush said that over 40,000 men, women and children in Gaza have been killed by “weapons that we, the United States, have manufactured and paid for.”

“Millions of people starving in this place while facing the continued dropping of bombs that the United States has paid for,” she said. “They question us about why we stand, and why we keep talking and marching and crying and pushing and demanding, and the bombs keep dropping and they’re not listening.”

Blinken ended his latest trip to the Middle East earlier this week with no deal in sight, after Netanyahu once again saying negative reports that Israel would comply with terms which had been agreed in the latest “bridging proposal”.

Hamas criticised the proposal, claiming it merely aligns with Netanyahu’s conditions, including his refusal of a permanent ceasefire, of a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Corridor, the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan included a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, the Israeli military’s withdrawal from Gaza, a surge in aid and a permanent end to hostilities.