‘Prison, you belong to ICJ’: Antony Blinken heckled by journalists on Gaza coverage throughout his final convention

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday discovered himself on the centre of stark criticism from journalists and critics who vehemently slammed the Biden administration’s international coverage on the Gaza battle. Blinken was delivering his remaining press convention.
“Prison! You belong in The Hague,” shouted Sam Husseini whereas condemning Blinken’s dealing with of the continued Israel-Hamas battle, Reuters reported.
Husseini’s outburst referred to The Hague, the place lies the Worldwide Prison Court docket. That is the place Israel is going through accusations of genocide and conflict crimes for its army offensive in Gaza.
After Husseini’s outburst, safety personnel rapidly intervened and took him away from the room as he continued his protest.
The extraordinary scene unfolded on the State Division the place a number of journalists had been repeatedly interrupting Blinken’s remaining press convention as he sought to defend his dealing with of Israel’s 15-month conflict with Hamas.
“Why did you retain the bombs flowing once we had a deal in Might?” Max Blumenthal, editor of the Grayzone, an outlet that strongly criticized many features of US international coverage, known as out to Blinken earlier than he was escorted out.
Antony Blinken’s response
Blinken, who is about to go away workplace on January 20 after Trump’s inauguration has been below tight scrutiny for offering Israel with weapons and diplomatic help for the reason that onset of the Hamas battle.
Blinken has been often heckled at appearances in Washington for the reason that Gaza battle started. Demonstrators camped outdoors his Virginia house for months and repeatedly threw crimson paint – resembling blood – on vehicles carrying Blinken and his household.
Right this moment, he calmly requested for quiet whereas he delivered his remarks, and later took questions from reporters.
“I might additionally level out that in Israel itself, there are a whole lot of instances being investigated,” Blinken added, referring to inside Israeli inquiries into potential violations of worldwide legislation.
“They’ve a course of, they’ve procedures, they’ve rule of legislation… That is the hallmark of any democracy.”
Requested in the course of the press convention if he would change something about his dealings with Israel, Blinken mentioned the Israeli authorities had carried out insurance policies that “had been supported by an amazing majority of Israelis after the trauma of October 7” and mentioned that needed to be factored into the US response.