'Blood on hands': Protester calls Blinken 'secretary of genocide'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heckled in Washington, DC, during his address at the Atlantic Council event on the Middle East, with a woman protester in solidarity with Palestine's Gaza shouting "bloody Blinken", "Secretary of Genocide" and "We will not forgive you."

He was speaking on his foreign policy on Tuesday as his four-year term is set to end next week.

"Secretary of genocide, you have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands," shouted the woman protester.

"Your legacy will be genocide. You will forever be known as Bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide. You have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands! We will not forget, shame on you” she continued while being escorted out.

"I respect your views. Please allow me to share mine. Thank you," Blinken responded.

Blinken faced two more interruptions, with another protester calling him a "monster" and a "war criminal ."

Biden administration has been facing criticism over its support for Israel during its war on Gaza which killed around 46,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

Gaza plan

During the event, Blinken also touted the proposal, which has been in the works for a year, and discussed the importance of ensuring its success after the Biden administration leaves office in a speech to the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that the strategic gains of the last 15 months endure and lay the foundation for a better future," Blinken said. "All too often, in the Middle East, we’ve seen how the shoes of one dictator can be filled by another, or give way to conflict and chaos."

Blinken said the plan, which he has outlined repeatedly in the past, envisions the Palestinian Authority inviting "international partners" to stand up an interim governing authority to run critical services and oversee the territory. At the same time, other partners, notably Arab states would provide forces for an interim security mission, he said.

The Gaza plan was just one part of the speech, which also covered other areas of the administration's Middle East policy, including Iran and potential normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Blinken and his top aides have spent months trying to sell Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Gulf Arab nations on the plan, which outlines how Gaza would be run, details reconstruction priorities and provides for security in the territory that has been devastated by the war that began in October 2023.