US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamas was the only holdup to a Gaza ceasefire as the Palestinian group prepared to send a delegation back to Cairo on Saturday for talks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Hamas is the main obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza, as the militants prepared to send a delegation to Cairo for talks. Blinken emphasized that the only thing preventing a ceasefire is Hamas, which the US considers a terrorist group. He highlighted the difficulty of negotiating with Hamas, as its leaders are not directly engaged with the US or Israel. Blinken s comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the assault on Rafah, a southern Gaza city, to eliminate Hamas.
Accepting a ceasefire deal with Israel should be a "no-brainer" for Hamas, but the motivations of the militants' elusive Gaza-based leadership remain unclear, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.