PHOENIX: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the “only thing standing between Gazans and a truce is Hamas” and a deal with Israel should be a “no-brainer” for the Palestinian group. He expressed these remarks while speaking at the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum in Arizona. The US top diplomat said that they wait to see whether, in effect, they can take yes for an answer on the truce and release of captives.
He said that maybe something else is going on with Hamas group, and they will have a better view of that in the next days. The US Secretary of State further said that talks with Hamas are complicated by the fact that the “ultimate decision-makers” are members of the group in Gaza, with whom mediators have no direct communication.
Brutal military attacks on Gaza by Israel have led to over 34,000 deaths, the local health ministry stated. The war has also displaced around all of its 2.3 million population, widespread hunger and led to genocide.
Meanwhile, dozens of Democratic legislators in the US have also written a letter to Biden insisting that the current Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid and help entering the Gaza Strip “call into question” their compliance with the law of the US.
