Hamas official urges US to pressure Israel to end war

A senior Hamas official urges the United States to pressure Israel to end its war against the terror group in Gaza, ahead of the planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region to push forward hostage-ceasefire deal efforts.

Blinken is set to visit Egypt and Israel today. He also aims to ensure the war does not expand into Lebanon, where the Hezbollah terror group has been attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis since October 8.

“We call upon the US administration to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza and the Hamas movement is ready to deal positively with any initiative that secures an end to the war,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri says.

In Blinken’s eighth visit to the region since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, he is also set to travel to Jordan and Qatar.

He is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo before traveling to Israel later today, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a US State Department schedule.

US President Joe Biden announced last month what he described as an Israeli proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas has not yet formally responded to the proposal, but officials in the terror group have reiterated their insistence that any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, a demand Israel has repeatedly ruled out.