US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Monday that the war in Gaza could stop when “Hamas surrenders,” leaving Israel to determine the time it needs to stop the fighting.
He then revealed that his country will take whatever other actions are necessary to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Blinken was commenting on a letter sent by five Democratic senators this week calling for increased accountability for Israel’s use of American weapons and the possible sale of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition for Israel, bypassing congressional review generally required for foreign arms sales.
He said the administration of President Joe Biden is trying to make sure that civilians are protected to the maximum extent possible in Gaza and that humanitarian assistance gets in to the maximum extent possible.
Blinken admitted “the terrible human toll” that this conflict is taking on innocent men, women, and children.
He claimed that when it comes to the weapons that the US transfers, and the rules that go along with them, “those rules apply to Israel as they do to any other country, including the way they are used and the need, the imperative of respecting international humanitarian law.”
The US top diplomat stated that the war is against “Hamas” that attacked Israel on October 7th, and therefore, he said Washington is sending weapons to Israel to make sure that it has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas.
In an interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week, Blinken said, “Look, this could be over tomorrow. This could be over tomorrow if Hamas got out of the way of civilians instead of hiding behind them, if it put down its weapons, if it surrendered.”
Asked about the US being the only country to vote against a UN ceasefire resolution last week, Blinken said the Biden administration has been a strong proponent of humanitarian pauses.
“In fact, because of our advocacy, because of the work we did, we got pauses, we got pauses on a daily basis, to make sure that people could get out of the way, that humanitarian supplies could get in,” he said.
Later, when CNN asked him whether the US will continue to back Israel if the war continues for months and months, the US Secretary of State said, “Again, Israel has to make these decisions.”
He added, “Everyone wants to see this campaign come to a close as quickly as possible,” adding that “when the major military operation is over... we have to have a durable, sustainable peace, and we have to make sure that we’re on the path to a durable, sustainable peace.”
