Too many Palestinians have been killed: Blinken

Far too many Palestinians have been killed and more needs to be done to protect civilians and provide them humanitarian aid, secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Friday in one of the strongest US condemnations of the toll in Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

- Rezaul H Laskar

India and the US stand with Israel in countering terrorism, though there is "more that can and should be done to minimise harm to Palestinian civilians", Blinken told a media briefing after co-chairing the India-US 2+2 dialogue of defence and foreign ministers in New Delhi.

The Israel-Hamas conflict figured in the joint statement issued after the dialogue, with India and the US saying that they will continue diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in West Asia, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the region, and work towards a political solution. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered... And we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximise the assistance... to them," Blinken said in his opening remarks at the briefing.