Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international requests for a humanitarian cease-fire.
“Israel refuses a temporary cease-fire that does not include the return of our hostages,” the prime minister said Friday in a televised address.
Netanyahu’s recommitment to continued military conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza comes after an unsuccessful meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken traveled to Israel with newly appointed US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew on Friday morning in hopes of negotiating a humanitarian pause on the conflict.
“We are absolutely focused on getting hostages back and getting them back to their families in safety,” Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.
He continued, “And we believe that, among other things, a humanitarian pause could help that effort, could facilitate it. It’s one of the reasons why we’re focused on it.”
Hezbollah leader vows to attack American troops in first remarks since Israel war started
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the terrorist group will continue its attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria.
Nasrallah made the comment in a televised speech Friday addressing the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict.
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“The US must be held accountable and pay the price for the crimes perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, hence resistance movements have attacked and will continue to attack American forces in Iraq and Syria,” the Hezbollah leader vowed.
He continued, “Israel has revealed itself to be a weak state, as fragile as a spider web, and it needs American and Western support. Otherwise, why would the U.S. Navy send an aircraft carrier shortly after the Oct. 7 attack? Why else would Biden visit Israel, alongside numerous American government secretaries, the military top brass and European leaders?”
Praising Hamas for its violent attacks and referring to Israel as “the occupiers,” Nasrallah said the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks were strictly a Palestinian operation.
Nasrallah made the same assertion about Iran, claiming the deadly attacks were perpetrated without the Iranian government’s knowledge.