Blinken: 'We won’t rest until all hostages are back home from Gaza'

The United States won’t rest until all the hostages are returned from Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told activists who had gathered outside his hotel in Tel Aviv, demanding the release of the remaining 133 captives.

“Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything we’re trying to do, and we will not rest until everyone – man, woman, soldier, civilian, young, old – is back home,” Blinken said as he stopped to speak to the demonstrators as they stood behind a steel barricade fence waving Israeli and American flags.  

“There is a very strong proposal on the table right now. Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done.  That is our determination, and we will not rest, we will not stop until you’re reunited with your loved ones,” Blinken said.

"Keep the faith"

“So please keep strong, keep the faith.  We will be with you every single day until we get this done,” he stressed.

Blinken is in Israel after stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan as part of a push to finalize a hostage deal and oversee issues related to the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Earlier in the day, when he met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, he reiterated the same message, stressing that the onus was now on Hamas.

He also reiterated that “even as we’re working with relentless determination to get the ceasefire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza who are suffering in this crossfire of Hamas’s making, and so focused on getting them the assistance they need – the food, the medicine, the water, the shelter – is also very much on our minds.”

Blinken also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is expected to speak with Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz later in the day and visit the port in Ashdod from where cargo heading for Gaza is unloaded.