The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, expressed the hope that Hamas would accept an “extremely generous” proposal in order to halt the Israeli attack on Gaza, in exchange for the release of hostages.
“Hamas has before it an extremely, extremely generous proposal from Israel,” Blinken said in Riyadh, during the World Economic Forum.
“They must make a decision and they must do it quickly (…) and I hope they make the right decision,” he said, referring to the leaders of Hamas.
Furthermore, Blinken reiterated, his country’s opposition to an Israeli attack on the densely populated city of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
“We have not yet seen a plan that allows us to believe that civilians can be effectively protected,” Blinken said during a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
The Secretary of State also estimated that diplomacy prevented the spread of the Israel-Hamas war beyond the Gaza Strip.
“We came very close to an escalation or expansion of the conflict and I believe that thanks to our very targeted and very decisive efforts, we were able to prevent it,” said Blinken.
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Regarding the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Antony Blinken said that the security pact between his country and Riyadh for this normalization is almost complete. “The work that Saudi Arabia and the United States have done together under their agreements is, I believe, at the point of completion,” he said.
Earlier, Blinken advocated for a comprehensive defense of the Gulf Arab countries against Iran.
Blinken began his seventh visit to the Middle East in Riyadh since October 7, when Hamas launched a bloody attack on Israel, leading to a war against the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, prompting growing public pressure for a ceasefire.
It is also Blinken’s first trip to the region since the attack launched in mid-April by Iran using drones and missiles against Israel.
“This attack made clear the acute and growing threat posed by Iran, as well as the urgent need for joint work for comprehensive defense,” Blinken told his Gulf Cooperation Council counterparts meeting in Riyadh.
