US affirms Hamas is the only 'obstacle' to ceasefire in Gaza
(Baonghean.vn) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Hamas movement is the only force preventing a ceasefire in Gaza, as the militant group prepares to send a delegation back to Cairo on May 4 to participate in negotiations.
Speaking on the evening of May 3 at the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona, Mr. Blinken emphasized: "We wait to see whether, in fact, they can accept the answer about the ceasefire and the release of hostages. In fact, at this point, the only thing standing in the way of the people of Gaza and the ceasefire is Hamas."
Secretary Blinken pointed to the difficulties in negotiating with Hamas, which the US considers a terrorist group and does not directly engage with, and which Israel has vowed to eliminate. The US Secretary of State added: “The leadership of Hamas that we engage indirectly – through Qatar, through Egypt – is of course outside Gaza. The people who make the final decisions are the people who are actually in Gaza, but none of us have direct contact with them.”
Also at the forum, Secretary of State Blinken reiterated his warning that Israel should not launch a large-scale military operation in Rafah - a populous city in Gaza. According to Mr. Blinken, Israel has not yet presented a plan to protect civilians. Mr. Blinken stated that "without a similar plan, we cannot support a large-scale military operation against Rafah because the damage it would cause would exceed an acceptable level."
Secretary Blinken's remarks came two days after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders during his latest visit to the Middle East. Ahead of the talks with Secretary Blinken, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to launch an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah to destroy Hamas regardless of the outcome of negotiations on a temporary ceasefire involving the release of hostages.
