Blinken: Ending Gaza war ‘as quickly as possible’ a top priority for administration

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says bringing the Israel-Hamas war to an end “as quickly as possible” is a top priority for the Biden administration in the year ahead.

The goal is listed as the number four priority set by Blinken for the coming year in a year-end briefing with reporters. Supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia, combating China and coalition building are priorities listed ahead of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which in previous years was even lower down the Biden administration’s list.

“It’s clear that this conflict needs to move — will move — to a lower intensity phase,” Blinken says. “We expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations, with a smaller number of forces that are really focused on dealing with the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network and a few other different things.”

“As that happens, you’ll see the harm done to civilians decrease significantly,” the US secretary of state adds.

Blinken says that the US will continue helping Israel to “ensure that what happened on October 7 can never happen again.”

The Biden administration says it will work to swiftly end the war, “while minimizing loss of life and the suffering of civilians, getting the remaining hostages back home to their families, preventing the conflict from spreading, and breaking the devastating cycle of violence and moving toward durable, lasting peace.”

He adds that the US is interested and is working to secure another hostage deal and that Israel wants one too but that “the problem is Hamas,” which reneged on the terms of the previous agreement.

Separately, US President Joe Biden tells reporters that “there’s no expectation at this point” of an imminent hostage deal but, “We’re pushing it.”