00:00 So, we have been intensely focused from day one on getting the hostages, all the hostages,
00:07 back with their families where they belong.
00:10 And we will keep that focus until we get them back.
00:16 We had an opportunity today to discuss with the Israeli government the response that Hamas
00:21 sent last night to the proposal that the United States, Qatar, and Egypt had put together
00:29 to bring the remaining hostages home and extend the humanitarian pause.
00:34 What I can tell you about these discussions is that while there are some clear non-starters
00:39 in Hamas' response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached.
00:46 And we will work at that relentlessly until we get there.
00:50 We had extensive discussions with the Prime Minister and national security leaders on
00:54 the status of the military campaign to defeat Hamas and on the progress toward achieving
01:00 the fundamental objective of ensuring that October 7th never happens again.
01:04 At the same time, we're continuing to work closely with Israel and Lebanon on diplomatic
01:10 efforts to de-escalate tensions on Israel's northern border so that families can return
01:16 to their homes both in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon and live in peace and
01:21 security.
01:23 We also discussed the imperative of maximizing civilian protection and humanitarian aid to
01:29 address the ongoing suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
01:33 We were deeply concerned by the allegations that were made about the participation or
01:38 involvement of some of its employees in the – in October 7th.
01:42 And it's imperative that, as the UN has said it's doing, that there be a thorough
01:49 investigation, that there be clear accountability, and that there be clear measures put in place
01:56 to make sure that this can't happen again, that personnel working for it were not in
02:02 any way involved in terrorism or the events of October 7th.
02:09 We know that the work that UNRWA performs, the functions that it performs, have to be
02:18 preserved because so many lives are depending on it.
02:24 And so going forward, we're going to look to the actions that are taken.
02:28 And as I said, it's imperative that the functions be preserved.
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