Secretary of State Antony Blinken reassured Americans on Thursday that if Hamas does not agree a proposed temporary ceasefire with Israel soon, the U.S. will consider alternative options to bring American hostages home.
The Biden administration laid out a temporary ceasefire proposal between Hamas and Israel last month, which Hamas has procrastinated accepting, despite a push from the United Nations' Security Council on Monday. Hamas pushed back on the proposal on Tuesday, with some proposed changes that Blinken claimed were "unworkable."
Blinken left the door open to a different deal with Hamas, which would focus on getting American hostages released. The State Department estimates that there are five American hostages still in Hamas's captivity, and three who were killed, according to NBC News.
"Our commitment, my commitment, my priority is always going to be on American citizens wherever they’re in harm’s way," Blinken told NBC News’s Savannah Guthrie. "If they’re being unjustly detained, if they’re being held hostage, my number-one responsibility is to do everything I can to get them out of harm’s way."
When pressed further whether that meant a different side deal with Hamas, Blinken said he would prefer Israel's deal, which would release 120 Israeli hostages from Hamas. But Israel's deal also includes discussions on a more permanent ceasefire.
"If the agreement doesn’t work, we’ll always be looking at what we can do, if there’s anything we can do to get our people home," Blinken said.
Blinken also lamented the speed in which Hamas responded to the ceasefire proposal, claiming that people were still suffering while Hamas decided whether to accept the agreement.
"It took Hamas 12 days to respond. And the world didn’t stand still during those 12 days," Blinken said. "People continued to suffer during those 12 days. The longer this goes on, the more people will suffer. So Hamas has to demonstrate that it, too wants this to end. If it does, we can bring it to an end. If it doesn’t, then it means that it wants the war to continue."
Hamas has pushed back on the criticism of its slow response to the ceasefire, claiming that it "dealt positively" with the proposal, according to the BBC.
