US Secretary of State wants end to Gaza war ‘as quickly as possible’

Blinken said that while ‘there’s no expectation’ of a second hostage release deal, ‘we’re pushing for it.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at a year-end press conference on Wednesday that ending Israel’s war against Hamas “as quickly as possible” was a top priority for the Biden Administration in the coming year.

He spoke of the shift to more targeted, lower-intensity fighting in Gaza.

Blinken added, “We expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations, with a smaller number of forces that are really focused on dealing with the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network and a few other different things.”

“As that happens, you’ll see the harm done to civilians decrease significantly.”

At the same time, the Secretary of State emphasized that the Biden administration is committed to ensuring that the massacre on October 7th “will never happen again.”

Blinken expressed hope for another round of talks to secure the release of additional hostages, but qualified this hope by saying, “There’s no expectation at this point, but we’re pushing for it.”

When asked about the breakdown of the previous deal in late November, he said, “The problem was Hamas” which violated the agreement.

Blinken reiterated the goal of ending the war in Gaza “while minimizing loss of life and the suffering of civilians, getting the remaining hostages back home to their families, preventing the conflict from spreading, and breaking the devastating cycle of violence and moving toward durable, lasting peace.”

Although war between Israel and Hamas has dominated headlines in the United States and the rest of the world since October 7th, it was listed only as fourth in the Secretary of State’s list of priorities for the coming year.

The first three US foreign policy priorities listed ahead of Israel’s war against Hamas include: supporting Ukraine against Russia, combating China, and coalition building.