United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said mediators between Israel and Hamas have only engaged with the Hamas political wing, which operates outside Gaza. "The ultimate decision-makers are the folks who are actually in Gaza itself with whom none of us have direct contact," he said in a speech at the McCain Institute.
Blinken repeated the assertion that Hamas "is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire." He also reiterated that the US cannot support Israel's ground operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip as Israel has not provided a plan to protect civilians.
