Secretary blink [speaking another language]. [speaking another language] secretary blinken good afternoon. Let me start by the Prime Minister thanking you for very productive discussions. Qatar has been a very partner of the United States on a broad range of issues that are crucial to both our countries and this region. Working together on evacuating americans and others from afghanistan. Been cooperating very closely in responding to the humanitarian emergencies like the earthquakes in syria. We are meeting today at what is a difficult but also consequential time for the region. In the wake of hamas appalling attack that killed more than 1,300 israelis, at least 27 american citizens, and people from more than 30 countries. The United States and qatar share the goal of preventing this conflict from spreading. We discussed in detail our efforts to prevent any actor, state or nonstate, in creating a new front in this conflict. We are also working intensively together to secure the release of hostages. Including american citizens being held by hamas in gaza. Im grateful for the urgency that qatar is bringing to this effort. I had an opportunity to meet yesterday with the families of some of those being held hostage by hamas. Their anguish is profound. They are desperate to bring their loved ones home. We are working urgently on that effort. We are doing that with qatar and with partners across the region. As israel continues to respond to hamas devastating attack, the United States will ensure it has what it needs to defend its people. Secretary as you kin tin was in israel today doing just that. Working closely with the israelis make sure we are providing them what they need and well do that on an ongoing basis. At the same time, we are in constant communication with israeli officials and with multilateral inh. R. International organizations Multilateral International organizations. To get civilians in gaza. As i said yesterday, israel has the right, it has the obligation to defend its people and try to ensure that hamas can never repeat what its done. We continue to discuss with israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. We recognize that many palestinian families in gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and the Palestinian Civilians have lost their lives. We mourn the loss of every innocent life. Israeli, palestinian, jew, christian, muslim. As well as civilians of every faith and nationality have been killed. Lets not lose sight why this is happening. The israelis conducting operations in gaza because hamas carried out terrorist attack that killed in the most horrific way 1,300 people. Hamas terrorist slaughtered, raped, mutilated, tortured, burned innocent civilians. Babies to the elderly. Men, women, boys and girls. Now, efforts to get humanitarian aid into gaza are complicated by the fact that hamas continues to use innocent civilians as human shields. And is reportedly blocking roads to prevent palestinians from moving to Southern Gaza out of harms way. We know the situation is urgent, we are engaged with partners, including qatar, to get aid to those who need t your excellency, thank you again for todays very, very good discussions and for all the work our countries have done together. Thank you. [speaking another language] [speaking another language] [speaking another language] we should set our priorities. And create a situation of calm. Against our brothers in gaza secretary blinken israel has the right and obligation to defend itself. So saturday never happens again. Same time the way israel does this matters. The way any democracy has to deal with such a situation matters. And to that end we discussed with the israelis, urged with the israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians. Its also important to remember the fundamental issue that makes this so complicated. As i said again a moment ago. Hamas uses civilians as human shields. Puts them in places where theyll be in danger. Puts them in places where they are used, in effect, to try to protect hamas officials or others. Civilians of course should not be the target of military operations. They are not the target of israeli operations. They are very deliberately the target of hamas actions. I mentioned as well we are very actively engaged with u. N. Relief agencies, the icrc and others to address the humanitarian needs of the people in gaza. To protect them from harm and make sure that they have the ability to get what they need. We need to ensure, for example, there are safe areas in gaza. Civilians. We are working through the details on that. And thats a priority for us. We are discussing this with the israeli government. We are discussing it with others. The communication since the [out of this. Came in contact with some countries. What of these communications and what are you basing them on . The amyrrh has initiated contacs initiated contact. And i have initiated contact with my counterparts. We are trying to reduce the tension and we hope that this war will come a halt and humanitarian corridors are secured so that humanitarian aid can reach the gaza strip, and also the civilian prisoners who are being taken from israel we are working on making sure that they will be relieved. The role of through other fronts are priorities focus on stopping the war and making sure humanitarian aid is delivered and the prisoners come home. Next question from reuters. Thank you. Shake muhammad, given the condemnation from the world on hamas attack, is qatar considering shutting down are you prepared to ask the leadership to leave if your western allies. Mr. Secretary, have you asked qatar to shut down hamas. If i may, mr. Secretary, yesterday and just now you said israel has a right to defend itself. But you added that how it does that matters. You talked about a standard that democracies should strive for even when its difficult to do so. Today palestinian envoy called a crime against humanity. The translation let me push you a little bit more on this. How does that square how does that order square with that standard you mentioned . And also International Law . Does the United States support this relocation . And since seeing Prime Minister netanyahu did you give your blessing for this move . Thank you. Secretary blinken thank you. Your question about hamas. Right now this office as a way of communicating. Communicating and bringing this is the practice of that office. As long as we are keeping the communication opened right now. And focusing on ending this conflict. Thats what our main focus is. Actually now our goal for us the United States sharing with us this objective is how to get the hostages back. Secretary blinken let me start by saying, i mentioned this before, but i want to repeat it. I fully thank qatar for the work they are doing to try to help secure the release of hostages. This is something that we deeply appreciate. I know that other countries do as well. Its something that we are actively pursuing. I have also been making it clear in all my conversations throughout this trip that there can be no more business as usual with hamas. Murdering babies. Burning families to death. Taking little children and hostages. These are unconscionable acts of brutality. Every country in our judgment needs to condemn these actions. Needs to hold them accountable. And we will continue to make that clear. When it comes to providing for civilians in gaza, both ensuring that they can be out of harms way and that they can have access to the support that they need, the humanitarian assistance, food, medicine, water, our focus now is on helping to create safe zones. We are doing that with the leading international organizations. We are doing that engaged with israel. And we are working with other countries to that end. Thats where our focus is. We think this is the best way to make sure that civilians who are caught in a crossfire hamas is making safe and receive the assistance they need. Thank you. [speaking another language] final question. Mr. Secretary, i know the situation in israel is highly charged and very fluid. Are you worried about the medium and longterm consequences of whats unfolding in gaza . Are you worried that israel may be retaliating in a fury because of the horrendous nature of the attacks and might not have a medium or longterm plan . And secondly, im wondering how worried with you about a second front in this war . Iran and hezbollah have made threats of opening this new front. If attacks on civilians or israeli blockade of gaza continues. What would the u. S. Response be if hose yeola ramps up its own attacks, for instance in response to a Ground Invasion . And sheik muhammad, u. S. And israel are both struggling with this tragic and fluid hostage situation the secretary was talking about and it looked for qatar to help navigate it. Can you tell us about your engagements with hamas . Are you optimistic about getting these people back alive given reports that some may have already died in israeli strikes on gonzalez . Secondly, there have been rising criticism and protests across the arab world as israels retaliation continues. Whats your world of how israel is contax cutting its military response . Conducting its military response. Are you also worried about the potential for medium and longterm consequences of whats happening . Thank you. Secretary blinken thank you very much. First part of the question. No country, no country can tolerate having terrorist group come in, slaughter its people in the most unconscionable way and live like that. What israel is doing is not retaliation. What israel is doing is defending the lives of its people and as i said trying to make sure that this cannot happen again. And i think any country faced with what israel has suffered would likely do the same thing. Imagine if this happened in the United States. Thats what is happening. Of course its important to think about, as one might put it, the day after. And where this goes. I believe that is very much a part of israels thinking, as well as our own. And the thinking of many other countries in the region because one thing is for sure. We cant go back to the status quo that allowed this to happen in the first place. That has to be part of the thinking. But the immediate focus is making sure the israelis are protected, defended, and that again, this cant be allowed to be repeated. With regard to a second fund, yes, this is something were focused on and have been from day one. We want to make sure no other country or entity tries to take advantage of the situation. The president has been very, very clear about that. He said very starkly that any state or nonstate actor considering that should not, dont do it. And hes backed that up in a number of ways, including as he mentioned the other day, deploying our largest Aircraft Carrier battle group to the eastern mediterranean. So thats clearly designed to tell anyone contemplating getting engaged doesnt do it. Beyond that, a big part of our own conversations here, throughout this trip, including today, following up the next couple days, is working with other countries to make sure theyre using their own contacts and their own influence and their own relationship to make that case that no one else should be taking this moment to create more trouble in some other place. I should mention as well, that earlier today, i had a very good conversation with the Palestinian Authority. And among other things, the Palestinian Authority is acting effectively to try to ensure there is security stability in the west bank, something very much appreciated and they are working as theyve done in the past with israel to that effect. So in each of these areas, yes, this is a focus and very important that this not expand to other places. Regarding your questions on the progress of the hostages, its very early to judge with the intensity right now how hostile they are. But in order to get those hostages back, i think the progress will be determined in the next few days, and we will see if there will be a positive outcome for that. We are doing our best, they are doing their best in order to get them released to safety. Our view on the israeli response in gaza. We have seen the amount of devastation that goes there now and a number of people have been killed throughout this operation thats significant, and we believe human beings are human beings everywhere, whether they are in israel or the palestinian, they have the same value. And this is important for all of us and wed like to see International Law applied here and also, the same rules applied in any war are applied and were doing our best to keep communication open in order to ensure the humanitarian suffering doesnt continue, and moving ahead with the humanitarian crisis, we cannot deprive the people in gaza from water and medicine and all means of life. We believe the situation is very dangerous. On the future prospect of this, the entire situation is very worrying for the entire region and in the absence of any political advisement and for the palestinian, this issue will keep going, unfortunately. And thats why we need to focus how the day after will be dealt with and how we can create a political horizon and work with the people. [speaking another language] and in washington on capitol hill, Republican House members have wrapped up their closed door meeting as they continue to look for a speaker candidate that can get the needed 217 votes to become speaker, representative mike garcia of california and Marjorie Taylor greene of georgia spoke at the reporters at one of the microphone stations throughout the capitol. Sounds like we have a forum at 1 00 and see who is running. Which was good. We dont need more rules. [indiscernible question] our understanding is only 209 of us are here and hopefully folks are returning to the hill and we can have a immediate candidate forum. Reporter how about the weekend . If i were a betting man i wouldnt say tonight and well see about the weekend and we owe it to the American People to get through this as quickly as possible and also with the rigor and Due Diligence we put in all thes pros. Reporter you see anyone else being nominated at 1 00 . Mr. Garcia i dont know. I havent seen anybody come forward. 1 00 will be clarifying for all of us, i hope and dont know it will be definitive after that. Reporter it will have to be a majority [indiscernible question] mr. Garcia if youre nominated as speaker of the house, you have some sort of leeway to determine the path forward. If i were to be nominated as speaker of the house, i would ask everyone to stay there and do either a formal or informal vote to see who is with me or not with me in the wake after candidate form without any other candidates so i can get down to a true up number we can work on and then ask for followon discussions or create a form to have public q a to clarify and hopefully move people off the sidelines. That hasnt happened so far and im hopeful whoever the nominee ends up being they dont need a rule to compel people to get in a room and have a conversation. Thats why these rules are silly. We just need to have leaders lead and not rely on the rule book to do that. Reporter besides jordan who will you be hearing from . Mr. Garcia no idea. Reporter no nominations have come in . Mr. Garcia as far as i know jordan is the only nominee or candidate running. Well see. Reporter senator, are you pledging support on the floor whoever the Conference Calls up . Mr. Garcia yeah, i think, you know, the American People deserve to have the filling of the speakership be done, right . I dont think the average american actually cares necessarily who the individual is but they care there is a speaker of the house and care there is a third person in line to the president that is representing the majority of congress. And thats what we owe them. There will be debates which candidate is the right one but if someone gets the majority of the votes, my expectation would be everyone in the party should realize theres a National Security imperative here to fill the seat and put aside your personal and political differences and get onboard for the big win which is a slim victory of win with 217, 218 votes and unfortunately not everyone is adopting that. It may require us to go to the floor. Sometimes you dont get resolution unless you have conflict. Sometimes the highest profile conflict, in this case the debate on the floor, 10 or 15 rounds, may be necessary to get people to realize they need to get onboard for the big win. Thanks, guys. I think its still to be seen if hell have the votes and hopefully he will. Of course im supporting jim jordan. Ive endorsed him. But what weve got to do is have a candidate forum. Right now jim george is the only declared candidate and it happens at 1 00 and there will be a lot of members to ask him questions about his plans, what to do about another c. R. Because obviously were running out of time about ukraine funding. Im sure there will be questions about israel, his overall plans and how he plans to run the conference, how he plans to be speaker of the house. There will be questions about future elections, of course, supporting maintaining the majority and so forth. And then once that happens, i just asked if we could have a vote immediately afterwards, and ive also told everyone, once that happens, we should go home and come back and have a speaker election either on monday or Tuesday Morning p. Another frustration in the conference is that were missing some of our members and they should be here right now so that we can get through this. But not having everyone here holds that process back. Reporter what about some of the republicans who have said they will not vote for jim jordan, whats your message to them . They could essentially block him from the speakership like they did steve scalise. Ms. Greene its every members right and at the candidate forum, like everyone did, i was one that stood up and shared my concerns and questions and so did others for jim jordan at the candidate format 1 00 they need to do the same thing. Reporter is it fair to say you dont think anyone can get a majority today, you dont expect that . Ms. Greene this is my third year in congress and ive seen just about everything so i cant say that. Maybe we can, who knows. Reporter youre looking to monday as a possible mrs. Greene for a floor vote. I dont think well have one today. But we should in conference. Im hoping to see that. Reporter you want people to go on the record . Ms. Greene im calling for us to go to the floor immediately. In conference today, i dont care about secret ballots, im fine with being open all the time. Reporter what do you think of the bad blood, some of the folks that op owes jordan, they dont oppose jim, they say but what about the derailment of this process . Ms. Greene never trump or never kevin is not a good way to go so im for working out those issues and see if we can move forward. Thank you. And House Republicans are planning to meet in under an hour for a Candidates Forum to see who might be the next nominee, including the chair of the judiciary committee, jim jordan and austin scott of georgia. Cspan will continue bringing you updates and live coverage as the process to select the next House Speaker unfolds. In partnership with many others, we bring you the house floor and party briefings and committee meetings. Cspan is giving you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary and no interruptions and completely unfiltered. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Defense secretary lloyd austin held a press conference with his israeli counterpart amid the nations ongoing war with hamas. During his remarks the