Antony Blinken interrupted by anti-Israel protesters

The speech of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was protested by pro-Palestine activists during his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about his department´s budget.

As Blinken began his speech, two people in the room stood up with a Palestinian flag and shouted ¨Hind Rajab, killed by Israel, was 6 years old. Blinken you will be known as the butcher of Gaza. You will be known as the killer of innocent Palestinians¨.

Protesters have become increasingly common at hearings involving Blinken, who is seen as the face of Biden administration’s response to the conflict in Gaza.

A growing number of Democrats, mostly progressives, have lashed out at Joe Biden for his unwavering support for Israel despite the massive civilian casualties and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Protests raise concerns about Biden’s campaign, amid fears that younger, progressive voters dissatisfied in that regard with the president’s policies.

While some applauded the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) order to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States reacted against it.

Blinken said at the same hearing that he wanted to work with Republican Senator James Risch, ranking member of the Upper House Foreign Affairs Committee, on legislation against the ICC.

“Given Monday’s events, I think we need to look at appropriate measures to deal again with what is a profoundly wrong decision,” he stressed.

For Risch the ICC would be sticking its “nose into the affairs of countries that have a legitimate and democratic independent judicial system.”

In more than seven months of Israel’s escalation in the Gaza Strip, the number of Palestinians killed, wounded or missing in the coastal enclave exceeds 118,000.