“Hamas is the only obstacle to the ceasefire in Gaza”: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this, as the militants prepare to send a delegation to Cairo for talks. “We’re waiting to see if, in fact, they’re going to take a yes response to a ceasefire and hostage release,” Blinken stressed. “The reality right now is that the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas.”
The US secretary of state also said that an Israeli attack on Rafah would cause damage “beyond acceptable”.
More than a million Palestinians displaced by the war are crowded into the city in the southern Gaza Strip but, according to Blinken, Israel has not presented any plans to protect civilians during this possible attack. “In the absence of such a plan, we cannot support a large-scale military operation in Rafah, because the damage it would cause would be beyond what is acceptable.”
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
