besiegement

Secretary of State Antony Blinken doubled down on the president’s position at a speech in Tokyo, echoing Biden’s prohibitions against forced displacement, reoccupation, reduction in Gaza’s territory, use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism, and besiegement.

An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment released Thursday said that “hostilities, including bombardment, ground operations and besiegement of the entire population have caused catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity across the Gaza Strip.”

McGurk also offered what he described as “five no’s” for the war: “No forced displacement, no reoccupation, no reduction in territory, no threats to Israel, no besiegement.”

Communications have been largely severed for weeks with Mariupol, strategically located on the Sea of Azov, and the horrors of weeks of bombardment and besiegement are only beginning to be fully revealed.

It deplores Russia’s shelling, airstrikes and “besiegement” of densely populated cities, and demands unhindered access for humanitarian aid.