Blinken in Israel to push for a cease-fire, sustained aid into Gaza
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00:00 Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel.
00:03 He met with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli leaders today.
00:08 This is Antony Blinken's seventh visit to the region, which of course was plunged into
00:12 conflict October 7th when Hamas attacked Israel.
00:15 Now Blinken told Netanyahu the U.S. still opposes a planned Israeli ground operation
00:20 into the Gazan city of Rafah.
00:22 He also talked about how to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza while also urging Hamas once
00:27 again to accept the deal that would release hostages and achieve a truce, saying Hamas
00:33 would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal off the ground.
00:38 We're determined to get a ceasefire that brings the hostages home and to get it now.
00:45 And the only reason that that wouldn't be achieved is because of Hamas.
00:49 There is a proposal on the table and as we've said, no delays, no excuses.
00:56 The time is now and the time is now long past due to bring the hostages home to their families.
01:04 Fraser Jackson in D.C.
01:05 I'm going to bring you back in here.
01:06 Fraser, we just heard there the U.S. Secretary of State walking this fine line between saying
01:10 yes we'll get the hostages back home but also yes we'll get more aid into Gaza.
01:14 I can see what he's hoping to achieve here, but is he going to get it?
01:18 Well, it's a fine line that the U.S. has been trying to walk ever since October 7th.
01:24 And it's a line which has caused anger on both sides, the pro-Palestinian and the pro-Israeli
01:29 side here in the U.S., both feeling like the government is not doing enough.
01:33 Now we are hearing from those reports that are coming out of the region, especially from
01:37 one Axios report, who it must be said has been quite accurate and been proven to have
01:42 quite high-level connections in the Israeli government, that Netanyahu told Blinken during
01:46 that meeting that he won't accept any deal that means ending the war.
01:51 Of course, Netanyahu vowed just on Tuesday to continue with the operation in the southern
01:56 town of Rafa, whether there was a ceasefire or not.
01:59 That of course is something that the U.S. has strongly opposed for a long time.
02:03 Blinken told Netanyahu again on Wednesday that the U.S. does not support this war effort
02:09 in Rafa.
02:10 They still have not seen any credible plan on how to deal with the over one million Palestinians
02:15 that are currently taking shelter in that region.
02:18 And that is something we've had confirmed by the State Department and other parts of
02:21 the government as well.
02:23 Now Antony Blinken's main message during this is obviously to try to get more aid into the
02:27 Gaza Strip.
02:29 We are told that around 5,000 trucks have entered the Strip since the beginning of April,
02:33 but that is simply not enough.
02:36 And Antony Blinken has heralded the opening of the Erez crossing in the north of the Gaza
02:42 Strip so more aid can come in from Jordan.
02:45 That of course is something that is deliverable that Joe Biden got from Netanyahu on his call
02:50 with Netanyahu over a month ago, a very fiery phone call.
02:55 But yes, simply not enough being done in the eyes of the American government.
02:58 They're trying to stave off this operation as they await the response from Hamas on whether
03:03 the ceasefire deal will go ahead or not.
03:05 Fraser, thank you for that.
03:06 Fraser Jackson reporting for us.