The U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza tied to the release of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.
“We hope very much that countries will support that,” Blinken said, according to the State Department’s transcript of the interview which he gave to Saudi Arabian TV channel, Al Haddath. He added that it would send a “strong message.”
Bliken who is on his sixth tour of the Middle East since October said the the U.S. stood with Israel and its right to defend itself, but the focus should be on “the civilians who are in harm’s way and who are suffering so terribly.”
He added that that “gaps are narrowing” in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas and he thought an agreement was “very much possible,” although he did not expand on why.
Washington has previously come under fire for vetoing resolutions that would put an immediate end to the war in Gaza, while continuing to support Israel militarily.
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