Blinken warns: Gaza cease-fire risks Hamas regrouping

“It’s our view that a cease-fire now would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7. It is important to reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself, indeed its obligation to do so, and to take necessary steps so that Oct. 7 can never happen again. But it’s also very important the way Israel does that.” “It is our position that a cease-fire is imperative to deal with the consequences, the humanitarian consequences of this conflict. And we believe that dealing with the various components of this crisis should be dealt with as well in an appropriate manner. But it is the international community’s responsibility always to seek the cessation of hostilities and not to promote the continuance of violence and military activity that has a very dire impact on the well-being of the civilian population in a very restricted area.” “This is not a religious war. It’s not a war between Muslims and Jews. This is defined in its context and all our values — Muslim, Christian, Jewish. All other human values dictate that we work for peace and we stop this madness, and we do not allow for the very dangerous dehumanization that we see.”