Ceasefire should be 'no-brainer' for Hamas, Blinken says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the press at the port of Ashdod in southern Israel on May 1, 2024. WASHINGTON: 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.

Noting that the militants"purport to represent" the Palestinian people, Blinken said:"If it is true, then taking the ceasefire should be a no-brainer." "The ultimate decision-makers are the folks who are actually in Gaza itself with whom none of us have direct contact."Blinken was addressing the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona days after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top leaders on his latest visit to the Middle East.

"Absent such a plan, we can't support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what's acceptable," Blinken said. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 34,622 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.Blinken on Monday held his latest meeting with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to discuss potential normalisation with Israel.

Gaza Antony Blinken

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