Blinken: It’s clear Israel wants a hostage deal, no need to focus on hypotheticals about Rafah

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters at the port of Ashdod in southern Israel, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/ Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters at the port of Ashdod in southern Israel, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/ Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells NBC that it’s clear Israel is willing to make “big compromises” in order to achieve a truce and hostage release deal with Hamas, and that the responsibility to ensure it comes to fruition is now on Hamas.

“It’s clear they’d like to see that happen,” Blinken tells the news outlet of the Israeli desire for a deal.

Of the deal, he says, “It gets an immediate ceasefire, it gets hostages home and it gives us something to build on.”

Asked if the chance for a hostage deal could be squashed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel will move forward with its imminent offensive in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city with a wartime population of more than one million people, Blinken says “people say things; let’s focus on what they’re doing, what we’re doing.”

“The most immediate thing, the most urgent thing is seeing in the days ahead what Hamas’s response is to a very strong proposal that’s on the table,” he continues. “Everyone agrees that this is a good deal, and one that would result in, again, an immediate ceasefire, which everyone wants, and getting the hostages home, which everyone should want.  That’s where the focus is.”

Asked what steps the US will take if Israel moves forward with an operation in Rafah rather than pursuing a deal with Hamas, Blinken says he doesn’t want to discuss “hypotheticals about what might happen.”

“We’re focused on seeing if this deal can happen, as it should happen. And we’ll see what Hamas does. It’s on them.”

He reiterates, however, that the US has yet to see “a clear, credible plan to protect civilians” in Rafah, and that until it does it “cannot and will not support a major military operation” there.

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