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Secretary of State Blinken: Why Hasn't There Been a Unanimous Chorus around the World for Hamas to Put Down Its Weapons and Give Up the Hostages?

(New York Times) Lulu Garcia-Navarro - As the Biden administration winds down, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview on Jan. 2, "When it comes to making sure that Oct. 7 can't happen again, I think we're in a good place. Israel has destroyed Hamas's military capabilities. It's eliminated the leadership that was responsible for Oct. 7." "We remain fundamentally committed to Israel's defense, and unfortunately it faces adversaries and enemies from all directions. And that means that the support that the United States provides over many administrations, Republican and Democrat, over many years, that support is absolutely vital to making sure that Israel is able to defend itself, that it can deter aggression coming from many other quarters, whether it's Hizbullah, whether it's Iran, whether it's the many Iranian-backed proxies, whether it's the Houthis, you name it. That support is vital to making sure Israel has a deterrent, has an adequate defense." "Whenever there has been public daylight between the United States and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel, we've seen it: Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of hostages....With this daylight, the prospects of getting the hostage and ceasefire deal over the finish line become more distant." Q: It was reported that Benjamin Netanyahu blocked a ceasefire deal in July that would have led to the hostages being released. Is that true? Blinken: "No, that's not accurate. What we've seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded....One of the things that I found a little astounding throughout is that...you hear virtually nothing from anyone since Oct. 7 about Hamas." "Why there hasn't been a unanimous chorus around the world for Hamas to put down its weapons, to give up the hostages, to surrender - I don't know....I do have to question how it is that we haven't seen a greater sustained condemnation and pressure on Hamas to stop what it started and to end the suffering of people that it initiated."
2025-01-05 00:00:00
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