US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intends to continue working toward resolving the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts during his remaining time in office, the State Department said Thursday, according to the AFP news agency.
"We will continue to pursue an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon, a surge of humanitarian assistance (to Gaza), and that is our duty to pursue those policies right up until noon on January 20 when the president-elect [Donald Trump] takes office," said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Blinken has made 11 trips to the Middle East, consistently advocating for a Gaza ceasefire deal that includes a release of hostages.
Hamas has continuously rejected any proposal for a hostage release that has been presented to it.
Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi proposed an outline which would have seen a two-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which four Israeli hostages will be released in exchange for terrorists. In the ten days following, negotiations would be held regarding a more extensive deal.
However, Blinken revealed on Sunday, during a conversation with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, that “Hamas has once again refused to release even a limited number of hostages to secure a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza”.
Last week, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri repeated Hamas’ stance and stressed again that any agreement must include a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.