00:00Which we've been working on, and we're on the verge of finalizing.
00:03We want them to know how much we appreciate and respect all the time and work and effort they've put in past to these negotiations.
00:10And we hope they'll re-engage despite everything that's happened. We know they're upset about it.
00:13Secretary, yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu declined to refuse to carry out further strikes on Hamas operatives.
00:22As you know, there's Hamas operating in Turkey, in Egypt, in addition to Qatar.
00:26What was your message on further strikes? Was it, don't do it again? Was it another message?
00:32Well, I'm not going to discuss the details of everything that we said.
00:35That's not the way you can conduct diplomacy or international relations via press conference in that way.
00:40But what I would say is this, is what I just said a moment ago.
00:43We all prefer, at this end, with a negotiated settlement that leads to the release of every single hostage, both alive and deceased,
00:51that leads to the demilitarization and disarming of Hamas, so they can no longer pose a threat, not just to Israel, but everyone.
00:58These are barbarians. These are animals in Hamas.
01:01And that leads us into a process of reconstructing Gaza so the people of Gaza could have a life free of Hamas
01:08and a life that's much better than what they've experienced under Hamas.
01:11That's what we all prefer.
01:13We think Qatar can play a very key role in that.
01:15We don't want to see anything that undermines that.
01:17So that's why we added it to the trip.
01:20They're very, you know, they're close partners.
01:22We've worked with them on a lot of things and we wanted to stay engaged despite being upset as they are with what happened last week.
01:30And then the president said he wasn't happy to see that happen.
01:32But nonetheless, all these problems are still here.
01:35They've got to be fixed and Qatar can play a key role in solving it.
01:37The major complaint of the country in Doha yesterday was that the United States holds a double standard when it comes to Israel,
01:45that is not holding Israel to account for its actions that they see as an escalation, the killing of civilians in Gaza.
01:51What would be your message in Doha today to reassure them?
01:54Well, look, I mean, the civilians are being used as human shields by Hamas.
01:58They've always done it.
01:59That's why they hide in tunnels and the civilians are on top.
02:01That's why they take hostages the way they have.
02:04That's why they'll take more hostages so they can get their hands on them.
02:07So the president wants to see it end.
02:09He wants to see it end quickly.
02:10And we prefer that it end quickly via negotiated settlement so all the fighting can stop.
02:15And we can begin the very hard work as an international community, not just the United States,
02:20rebuilding Gaza and providing the people of Gaza a much better life, much better life than what they've had under Hamas.
02:28And we think our partners in the region can play a key role in that.
02:30And we hope they'll stay engaged.
02:32And we think Qatar can play a very important role in that, as they've tried to do in the past.
02:36Is this the last chance for Hamas to avoid a broader Israeli move into Gaza City?
02:45Well, as you saw, the Israelis have begun to take operations there.
02:48So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal could happen.
02:52We don't have months anymore.
02:54And we probably have days and maybe a few weeks.
02:57So it's a key moment, an important moment.
02:59And again, our preference, our number one choice is that this ends through a negotiated summit where Hamas says,
03:06we're going to demilitarize, we're no longer going to pose a threat, we're going to disband,
03:09we're going to release every single hostage.
03:11By the way, there shouldn't be a single hostage.
03:14If you want to fight a war, you fight wars between combatants.
03:16You don't fight wars by taking civilians as human shields.
03:20And in this particular case, we're the hostages for almost over two years now.
03:26That's a barbaric practice.
03:27It's an acceptable practice.
03:28The president called it out yesterday.
03:30So that's what we prefer.
03:32We want it to end that way.
03:34We hope, we've done a lot of work, and Ambassador Whitman spent countless hours working on this.
03:39We think the Qataris could play a very key role in making that happen.
03:43That's his preference.
03:44And that's how we want to see it.
03:46Sometimes, you know, when you're dealing with, you know, a group of savages like Hamas, that's not possible.
03:51But we hope it can happen.
03:52We're going to do everything we can to see if it is.
03:53Secretary, what's your message to Israeli ministers who are calling for a partial,
03:58or a complete annexation of the West Bank?
04:00Are you worried that the Abraham Accords would be in jeopardy?
04:02Yeah, look, I mean, I think much of that is a reaction to several nations around the world deciding to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.
04:12We warned them that we thought that was counterproductive.
04:14We actually think it's undermined negotiations because it emboldened Hamas.
04:18And we think it undermines future prospects of peace in the region.
04:22We thought it was unwise to do that.
04:24And I think we're seeing that as a counterreaction.
04:26It's what we thought would happen.
04:27We warned them that this kind of action would happen among some in Israeli government if they did what they did.
04:34But right now we're focused on how can we end what's happening in Gaza?
04:37How can we end Hamas, how can we get the hostages free, and how can we create a framework so that the people of Gaza can have a much better life than what they ever had under Hamas?
04:48That's what the president wants, and that's what we're going to continue to work on.
04:51With this Gaza City offensive, is it your still assessment that Hamas can't be militarily defeated?
05:00We're at over 700 days before.
05:01Well, they may not have a choice if they militarily defeat them.
05:04You know, I think the problem, if it wasn't for hostages and civilians, they would have been defeated a long time ago.
05:09But these guys hide behind civilians, and they hide behind the hostages.
05:13That's why they took the hostages.
05:14If there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would have ended a year and a half ago.
05:20So, but now it's kind of at a break point.
05:23I mean, you've seen what the Israelis are saying.
05:25I mean, at some point this has to end, and it has to end with Hamas' defeat.
05:28Our hope is that we can still negotiate something where the fighting stops, Hamas is disarmed, and the hostages are all released.
05:36And we can help rebuild Gaza, not just us, but the world, to give those people a better life than what they've ever had under these savages in Hamas.
05:43That's still our hope.
05:44We're going to do everything we can to try to achieve that.
05:47It may not be possible, because dealing with Hamas is not easy.
05:50And these are very bad people.
05:51Are you worried about the risks of the Gaza City offensive?
05:54I know some of the ideas.
05:55Yeah, war is risk.
05:57I mean, there's risk involved in war.
05:58There's no good war, right?
06:00We don't like war.
06:01The president doesn't like war.
06:02The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one that goes on forever and ever.
06:07At some point this has to end.
06:08At some point Hamas has to be deep hanged.
06:11And we hope it can happen through negotiations.
06:13But I think time, unfortunately, is running out in that regard.
06:17Two and a half years, they still don't release the hostages.
06:19At some point Israel, it's their war.
06:21They're going to get to decide how they want to proceed, because they're the ones that were
06:24attacked on October 7th.
06:26But again, I want to reiterate, if there is a way to negotiate an end to this that leads
06:30to the release of the hostages and the elimination of Hamas as a threat, we're for that.
06:35That's what we want to see happen.
06:37We're going to continue to do everything we can until there's nothing left to do.
06:40But we hope we can achieve something.
06:41But it's going to be hard.
06:42You know, it's not going to be easy.
06:43Who exactly are you having the negotiations with?
06:45You know, some of the Hamas officials were in Qatar to discuss their proposal that the
06:50president of Egypt had given.
06:51They were attacked by Israel.
06:54So who is it that in Hamas are you actually trying to talk about?
06:57I mean, whoever has the authority to release the hostages.
07:00Are we talking about the Qatar-mediated talk?
07:03Well, Qatar-mediated talk?
07:04Yeah, I mean, the Qataris and the Egyptians have worked together on this, and they're important
07:08mediators.
07:09If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one.
07:12They're the ones that can do it.
07:13Now, I don't know if they can after what happened, but I think they could.
07:16If anyone can, they can.
07:17There's no other country in the world that could play that role.
07:20And we hope they can.
07:21If they can, we want to be supportive of it.
07:23Are you going to ask Qatar to have Hamas no longer be within their country, or are you
07:27still asking them?
07:27Well, we're going to ask Qatar to continue to do what they've done, and we appreciate
07:31it very much, and that is play a constructive role in trying to bring this to an end.
07:35Obviously, they have to decide if they want to do that after last week or not.
07:38But we want them to know that if there's any country in the world that could help, you
07:42know, end this through a negotiation, it's Qatar, and we appreciate that.
07:46And if there's a chance to do it, we want to encourage them to do it.
07:49They don't have to make that decision.
07:50And if we can play a role, he's the only leader in the world, the only leader in the
07:54world that can talk to both the Ukrainians, the Europeans, and also to the Russians, is
07:59President Trump.
08:00He's the only one that can.
08:01And he's not going to easily forfeit that role because he's the only one that can play
08:04it.
08:04If somehow he were to disengage from this or, you know, sanction Russia and say, I'm done,
08:10then there's no one left in the world that could possibly mediate that end.
08:14Now, maybe we get to that point.
08:16We hope not because it's a really bad war and he wants it to end.
Be the first to comment