US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday confirmed that the Hamas group had responded to the latest proposal for a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militants.
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00:00 So, together with Qatar and Egypt, we put forward, as you know, a serious proposal that
00:07 was aimed at not simply repeating the previous agreement, but expanding it.
00:14 As the prime minister just said, Hamas responded tonight.
00:18 We're reviewing that response now, and I'll be discussing it with the Government of Israel
00:23 tomorrow.
00:24 There's still a lot of work to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is
00:29 possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it.
00:36 We had meetings already on this trip in Riyadh, in Cairo, now today in Doha, focused on ensuring
00:45 as well that we can use any pause to continue to build out plans for the day after in Gaza.
00:52 Security, humanitarian, reconstruction, governance all bring real challenges with them, but that's
01:01 exactly why we are and need to be focused on them now.
01:05 We're also determined to use any pause to continue to pave a diplomatic path forward
01:09 to a just and lasting peace and security for the region.
01:15 That is the best way, the best way to ensure that October 7th and the tragic loss of life
01:22 by Israelis and Palestinians is not repeated.
01:27 When I was last in the region a few weeks ago, I said then that there is a very powerful
01:34 path that we can see before us to actually get to lasting peace and security, and it's
01:40 coming ever more sharply into focus.
01:44 An Israel that is integrated into the region with security guarantees from its neighbors
01:50 and partners, alongside a practical, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living
02:00 side by side in peace with Israel, with the necessary security arrangements for both peoples.
02:08 On this visit, one of our key objectives has been to continue to hammer out the substance
02:13 and sequence of all the steps that would be necessary to enable us to move down that path.
02:20 Now, that's one path.
02:24 It's clear, and you can see that it gets us to a destination that would benefit virtually
02:30 everyone in the region and, as I said, bring lasting peace and security to Israelis and
02:37 Palestinians alike.
02:40 But there are those who want to move the region in a different direction and take a different
02:45 path, and who are actively working to sabotage every effort to move toward lasting peace
02:51 and security.
02:53 Just look at what we've seen in the last couple of months and, indeed, in the last couple
02:58 of weeks.
03:00 Attacks in Syria and Iraq, attacks on Israel from Lebanon, attacks on international shipping
03:08 in the Red Sea, attacks in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members, and, of course,
03:16 the attack on Israel on October 7th.
03:20 Each and every one carried out by groups trained, armed, funded, and formed by Iran.
03:26 Iran and its proxies claim that they're carrying out these attacks somehow on behalf of the
03:34 Palestinian people.
03:36 That is absolutely wrong, and it's a cover for their true intent.
03:42 They are all fundamentally about Iran's quest for power.
03:46 We've been very clear that we do not want to see the conflict expanded.
03:50 We don't want to see escalation.
03:53 But we've also been clear that if our personnel, if our people are threatened, if they're attacked,
04:00 we will respond.
04:02 We will defend them.
04:04 We are responding to violence, not initiating it.
04:08 We're seeking to prevent escalation, not fuel it.
04:13 And as we do this, we will continue to use every tool available to us to reach an extended
04:20 pause that gets hostages out, that gets more assistance in, that brings calm to Gaza's
04:28 civilians, and that keeps diplomacy moving forward toward an integrated and more secure