Israel-Hamas war: Antony Blinken warns ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup, repeat attacks
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup and carry out similar attacks. Queen Rania of Jordan calls the rejection of the ceasefire morally reprehensible and emphasizes the need for peace to ensure Israel's security.
Amid a call for a ceasefire after Israel’s military intensified its assault against Hamas, the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that a ceasefire in Gaza would give Hamas the opportunity to allow it to regroup and carry out similar attacks to the one it carried out on 7 October that attack killed more than 1,400 people.
Israel has launched a massive bombing campaign on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after the Palestinian militants staged the worst attack in Israel's history.
Blinken's comments came at a news conference in Amman, alongside his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts who have repeatedly urged for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
"A ceasefire now would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on October 7," Blinken said at the conference. "No nation, none of us would accept that ... So it is important to reaffirm Israel's right and its obligation to defend itself."
Also Read: From Jordan to Turkey - Which countries have recalled ambassadors from Israel amid war?
In a rare public disagreement at a news conference in Amman, foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt, standing alongside Blinken, repeatedly pushed for a cessation of hostilities, saying the death of thousands of civilians could not be justified as self-defence. They also refused to discuss in-depth what comes next for Gaza, when and if Hamas is destroyed, stating that the priority should be on working to put an end to hostilities right away, as reported by Reuters.
Also Read: Israel-Hamas War: ‘Gaza Strip cut into two’ says Israeli army, ‘ready to attack Northern Gaza any moment’
At the same conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said, "The international community's responsibility always is to seek the cessation of hostilities, not promote the continuance of violence."
"I think we need to get our priorities straight," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. "Right now we have to make sure that this war stops," he added.
Also Read: Israel-Gaza war Day 31: Israeli troops surround Gaza, communication blackout in the region. Top-10 updates
He further added, "What happens next - how can we even entertain what will happen in Gaza when we do not know what kind of Gaza will be left," after this war.
Meanwhile, Jordan's Queen Rania also slammed those rejecting the ceasefire and said that it is "morally reprehensible" and needs justification for the deaths of thousands of civilians.
In an interview with CNN, she said, “There has to be a collective call for a ceasefire and I know that some who are against the ceasefire argue that it will help Hamas. However, I feel in that argument they are inherently dismissing the death, in fact even endorsing and justifying the death of thousands of civilians. And that is just morally reprehensible. ”
The Jordanian monarch in an interview also said that Israel's bid to rid Gaza of Hamas is "short-sighted and not entirely rational "because "the root cause of this conflict is an illegal occupation."
"If we do not address these root causes, then you can kill the combatants, but you cannot kill the cause. Under the rubble of these destroyed buildings will emerge another group more determined, and more motivated to do what Hamas did," she added.
Further adding, the Jordanian Queen said, “Israel needs to once and for all realise that if it wants its security, it is through peace. Not the strongest military or the capable intelligence services or the Iron Dome will safeguard Israel's security as much as peace would,” as quoted by CNN.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the call for a ceasefire, stating that there would be no ceasefire without the return of hostages. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon. We say this to our friends and our enemies. We will simply continue until we defeat them. We have no alternative," Reuters quoted him as telling officials at the Ramon air force base.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Gaza lost communications in its third total outage of the Israel-Hamas war, while Israel's military said it encircled Gaza City and divided the besieged coastal strip into two. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it is "very concerned" about reports of another communications outage in Gaza."Without connectivity, people who need immediate medical attention cannot contact hospitals and ambulances. All channels of communication must be restored immediately," the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
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Business NewsNewsWorldIsrael-Hamas war: Antony Blinken warns ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup, repeat attacks
First Published:6 Nov 2023, 10:31 AM IST
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