LIVE: Secretary of State Blinken Holds a Press Availability in Tel Aviv, Israel

we know that for the people who are most affected by the attacks and the conflict that's followed uh time moves differently uh immediately before this I met with the families of hostages being held in Gaza and with hostages who have been released several of those families I've now met multiple times for them every day every hour every minute that they're separated from their loved ones is an eternity time feels different for families and Gaza as well hundreds of thousands of whom are experiencing acute food insecurity for the mother or father trying to find something to feed a hungry child the passage of another day without food is excruciating time also feels different for Israelis and Palestinians whose innocent loved ones have been killed for them time often falls into before and after the after filled with a loss that most of us will never know and cannot fully imagine and those just a few examples of how heavy these 95 days have felt and continue to feel for the people most affected by this conflict this immense human toll is one of the many reasons that we continue to stand with Israel in ensuring that October 7th can never happen again it's also why we're intensely focused on bringing the remaining hostages home addressing the humanitarian crisis and strengthening protection for civilians in Gaza and preventing the conflict from spreading and it's the reason we're working urgently to forge a path Security in this region we believe the submission against Israel to the international court of justice distracts the world from all of these important efforts and moreover the charge of genocide is meritless it's particularly Gan given that those those who are attacking Israel Hamas Hezbollah the houthis as well as their supporter Iran continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews on this trip I came to Israel after meeting with the leaders of Turkey Greece Jordan cter the United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia all of those leaders share our concern about the spread of the conflict all of them are committed to using their influence using the ties that they have to prevent it from escalating to deter new fronts from opening in addition all Express grave concern about the dire humanitarian situation and the number of civilians killed in Gaza we know that facing an enemy that embeds itself among civilians who hides in and fires from schools from hospitals makes this incredibly challenging but the daily toll on civilians in Gaza particularly on children is far too high important progress has been made in increasing the amount of Aid getting into Gaza including by opening cormal loone nonetheless 90% of gaza's population continues to face acute food insecurity according to the United Nations for children the effects of long periods without sufficient food can have lifelong consequences as I underscored in our meetings today today more food more water more medicine other essential Goods need to get into Gaza and then once they're in Gaza they need to get more effectively to the people who need them uh and Israel needs to do everything it can to remove any obstacles uh from Crossings to other parts of Gaza improving deconfliction procedures to ensure that the a can move safely and securely is a critical part of that the United Nations is playing an indispens ible role in addressing the immense humanitarian needs in Gaza there is simply no alternative un personnel and other Aid workers in Gaza are demonstrating extraordinary Courage by continuing to provide life-saving services in what are extremely challenging conditions um I spoke last night with the un's new senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza Sig Cog uh about all of these efforts that are underway now Sig kagam and I worked very closely with uh a few years ago when she led the UN mission that destroyed the Assad regime's chemical weapons in Syria so I can say from experience she has what it takes to get this job done she has America's full support she must have Israel's as well today we also discussed the phase transition of Israel's military campaign in Gaza we continue to off for our best advice for how Israel can achieve it's a central goal of ensuring that October 7th can never be repeated and and we believe Israel has achieved significant progress toward this fundamental objective as Israel's campaign moves to a lower intensity phase in Northern Gaza and as the IDF scales down its forces there we agreed today on a plan for the UN to carry out an assessment Mission uh it will determine what needs to be done to allow displaced paltin Palestinians to return safely to homes in the north now this is not going to happen overnight there are serious security infrastructure and humanitarian challenges but the mission will start a process that evaluates these obstacles and how they can become uh be overcome in today's meetings I was also uh Crystal Clear Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow they must not be pressed to leave Gaza as I told the Prime Minister the United States unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza and the Prime Minister re confirmed to me today that this is not the policy of Israel's government we also spoke about the tensions on Israel's northern border with Lebanon where Hezbollah continues to launch daily rocket attacks on Israel as I told the war cabinet and other senior officials the United States stands with Israel in ensuring its northern border is secure we're fully committed to working with Israel to find a diplomatic solution that avoids escalation and allows families to return to their homes to live securely in Northern Israel and also in southern Lebanon finally we continue to discuss how to build a more durable peace and security for Israel within the region as I told the Prime Minister every partner that I met on this trip said that they're ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long running cycle of violence and ensures Israel's security but they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes the Pathway to a Palestinian State these goals are attainable but only if they're pursued together this crisis is clarified you can't have one without the other and you can't achieve either goal without an integrated Regional approach to make this possible Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people and living side by side in peace with Israel uh and as Neighbors and Israel must be must stop taking steps that undercut Palestinian ability to govern themselves effectively extremist settler violence carried out with impunity settlement expansion demolitions evictions all make it harder not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security The palestini Authority also has a responsibility to reform itself to improve its governance issues I plan to raise with President abas among others when we meet tomorrow if this wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves when President Biden addressed the people of Israel uh days after the October 7th attack he made a very simple pledge the United States has Israel's back today tomorrow always the friendship between our Nations is truly exceptional it's our unique Bond and America's enduring commitment to the people of Israel that allows indeed demands that were as forthright as possible in the moments when the stakes are highest when the choices matter the most this is one of those moments happy to take some questions the first question goes to Simon Lewis with [Music] Reuters uh thank you um Mr secretary um the the future of the Gaza Strip is been uh a theme of your trip while you've been visiting uh Regional countries um I wonder today were you able to do any make any progress on closing the gap between um Arab leaders and Israel uh on specific uh security reconstruction and governance arrangements for for Gaza and um you talked before uh leaving Saudi Arabia yesterday about uh the need for a practical Pathway to a Palestinian State as part of any um efforts towards Regional integration and obviously that's come up today in your meetings with with the cabinet uh has prime minister Netanyahu changed his mind is he still opposed to uh the creation of a separate Palestinian estate or you know have you manage to convince him or get any uh guarantees that this is something that can happen so one of the things that I heard very clearly on this trip and these two questions are actually joined um is many countries in the region um are really prepared to to invest in a number of ways to invest when the conflict in Gaza is over um in its reconstruction in its uh in its security supporting uh Palestinians in their in their governance but uh it is essential to them that there also be a clear pathway to the realization of Palestinian political rights and a Palestinian State uh and I think the The View that that they've expressed is that critical to ending once and for all cycle of violence that is only going to repeat itself at some point in the future is through uh the realization of Palestinian political rights uh that was a very clear message that I heard everywhere I went just as I heard again uh a commitment not only to uh be engaged in the in the future of Gaza but also to take the steps necessary make the commitments necessary provide the assurances necessary to give Israel confidence in its security and that's something that's that's new and in in in recent years and very powerful which is the the willingness um the commitment of many neighboring countries not only to uh to live in with Israel in peace but also genuinely to have a region that's more integrated in which everyone can feel secure including Israel so there's a I think a also here a potentially powerful opportunity for the future now very difficult to get there hard to get there hard decisions hard choices need to be made in order to get there but you can see that that possibility um I'm not not going to speak for the the prime minister or anyone in the Israeli government uh about their views I can just share our own and also share a little bit of what I heard from uh from countries in the region for the next question suan Masada with con news thank you Mr secretary for taking the questions I'll do it very fast um the Israeli government um still refusing to transfer the PA's money and the Minister of Finance MRI said yesterday there are 2 million not nais in Gaza and I won't give money to Nazis just like the US won't give money to Al-Qaeda I would like to have your comment on that and the second question is um the cabinet said the war cabinet said that they are not they are refusing to let cazins go back to North Gaza for now um is that something that you agreed on with your Israeli counterparts thank you very much so um first with regard to the Palestinian Authority revenues these are their revenues uh they should have them uh they should have them in order to uh be able to make sure that they can pay their people who are providing essential services including doing essential work uh in the West Bank the Palestinian Authority Security Forces who are playing a very important role in trying uh to keep peace uh security stability in the West Bank something that's profoundly in Israel's interest um so we believe that uh those revenues should be um uh should be released to them again uh their revenues and uh being used to do something that's important uh to Israel and when it comes to the Future governance of uh of Gaza when the conflict is over um of course people need to be paid uh they need to be able to uh uh to do the work necessary to administer Gaza uh to do the other things that will be critical uh once the um once the conflict ends in terms of um uh Palestinians and moving back North in in Gaza as I spoke to earlier uh we have an agreement that the UN will now conduct an assessment uh to determine the conditions necessary for people to be able to move back home there are a lot of really uh challenging and important issues to to deal with including things like unexploded ordinance uh and booby traps and other explosives that have been left uh by Hamas uh infrastructure questions uh proper support all of of those things are going to be evaluated by the United Nations pursuant to this agreement and then as soon as conditions allow we want to see people be able to move back to their homes and we've been uh very clear about uh the uh necessity of doing that when conditions allow uh and um making sure that if people want to go back they can go back will Malden with the Wall Street Journal thank you so much um I just wanted to ask about we've heard some voices among uh Israeli political leaders talking about the threat of Iran in the region and of course um its proxies Hezbollah and and the houthis have been active um in and around this conflict um and but you're bringing a message uh to the region of deescalation was your message of deescalation heard and agreed with um uh when you spoke to your Israeli uh counterparts and and political leaders to today um or you know we haven't certainly haven't seen that uh in the last few days there have been strikes on Hezbollah that would appear to be um an escalation uh do you support that and is the US and its Partners uh are they prepared to uh take a strike against the houthis because of their continued action in and around the Red Sea thank you thanks will one thing that we've heard clearly uh every place we've gone including in in Israel is that escalation is in no one's interest uh no one's seeking it no one wants to see other fronts opened in this conflict um and more than that as I've uh you know already shared we have countries around the region that are using their uh relationships uh using their influence uh to try to make sure that that doesn't happen um we had extensive uh discussions about that today as we had uh on other uh other days of this trip and here we focused uh uh particularly on the situation in in um uh Northern Israel uh and it's very clear to me from these conversations uh a few things first we strongly support the proposition that Israelis need to know uh security so that they can return to their homes in uh in Northern Israel uh 880,000 or so Israelis have been forcing their homes because of uh insecurity from uh coming from Southern Lebanon uh the rocket attacks uh other threats by Hezbollah uh equally uh we believe and the government of Israel believes that a diplomatic path is the best way to achieve that security and that's exactly what we'll continue to pursue um that's what the government said today and that's what we're uh we're focused on more broadly uh we have you're right a number of actions being taken by um the houthis by or other other Iranian proxies uh in Iraq in Syria that threaten stability and uh threaten the potential for uh for conflict and we're determined again that we uh not see escalation that we don't have the conflict spread uh and we've made that very clear uh but of course if our Personnel if our forces are are threatened or attacked will take appropriate steps we'll respond uh we'll protect them we've demonstrated that in the recent past uh and we will again if we have to we talked already about the um the threat that the houthis are posing that's a threat not to us just to us or to to Israel it's a threat to the entire International Community because they've been attacking shipping through the Red Sea that's vital to providing provides about 15% of global Commerce every day um these attacks have had uh very very negative effects for countries around the world in terms of um forcing ships to Route Around the Red Sea take longer routs more expensive more time insurance rates goes up prices for food for medicine for energy for whatever is being shipped are going up and more broadly it's a threat to the principle of freedom of navigation that every country has a stake in that's why more than 40 countries joined us in condemning the houthi actions that's why other countries have joined us in making clear that this continues uh there going to be consequences but no one was looking to uh create a conflict or to escalate a conflict on the contrary we're seeking to uh to prevent that from happening but we also have to uphold basic principles of of international law including freedom of navigation and uh we have to make sure that our own Personnel when they're under threat uh are being protected you said they're going to be consequences that there has a decision the US take look I'm not going to speculate on uh on what will happen in the future we just want to make clear that if these actions by the houthis continues uh there'll be consequences I'm not going to say anything beyond that for the final question W alamari with Al jazer thank youi Jaz Chief in Jerusalem first let me Mr Secretary of State blink thank you for expressing your deep sadness about the tragedy of our dear colleague jaaz reporter in Gaza has lost his wife and three sons and his grandchildren in an Israeli bombardment of the house where they were fled from the center of Gaza City and displaced to the southern Gaza Strip in 25th of October two days ago or 3 days ago he lost his eldest son Hamza who was a journalist in El jazer media Network and was killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a civilian car in RAF 110 Palestinian journalists were killed so far by Israeli Army in Gaza during the war more than 20,000 civilians were killed and tens of thousands were injured and hundreds of thousands were displaced from their homes that no longer exist the situation of the Israeli citizens is also difficult uh tens of thousands were displaced from the Gaza envelope and the border line with Lebanon and hundreds of civilians were killed in the Hamas attack on the 7th of October and there are many prisoners and hostages from both sides as you know my question why do you as a superpower and as leading force in the International Community not oblig the parties and especially the Israeli government to ceas fire in Gaza and respect the United Nation resolutions and dicated uh dicated the a peaceful solution instead of both sides continuing wash Blood by more blood my second question is related to the matter of normalization is the USA really busy with the matter and do you think Mr BL blinkin that the option exist or is is it just an attempt to escape from the solution of the Palestinian question and tempting Netanyahu prime minister of Israel to agree with the American position in order to change his extreme government and what's about the rule of the four Arab uh Nations or countries as you mentioned before in Gaza it's just to contribute for the Reconstruction or they have political role there thank you let me just say again at the at the said um the loss losses that your colleague suffered are unimaginable um and uh I have deep condolences for what he is suffered I again can't even begin to fully imagine what he's gone through uh and as I said again the other day uh to the journalists who've lost their lives or been injured in Gaza uh we feel very strongly for them as well and the essential work that they do uh is more vital than ever we want this war to end as soon as possible um there's been far too much loss of life far too much suffering uh but it's vital that Israel achieve its very legitimate objectives of ensuring that October 7th can never happen again uh we believe they've made considerable progress toward that goal uh at the same time I think it's very important to remember that everyone has choices to make and that includes Hamas Hamas could have ended this on October 8th by not hiding behind civilians by putting down its weapons by surrendering by releasing the hostages none of the suffering none of the suffering would have happened if Hamas hadn't done didn't did what it did on uh October 7th and had it made different decisions thereafter so it's very important to keep that in perspective and again this could end tomorrow if Hamas makes those decisions um we will continue as we've done to give the Israelis our best advice about conducting this war in a manner that achieves the objective of making sure that October 7th can't be repeated does better by protecting civilians and making sure that people get the assistance that they need with regard to normalization um there is I think a clear interest in uh in pursuing that uh integration of the region is something that virtually all of the countries that I visited on this trip want to advance want to pursue some of them have already taken vital steps to do that uh others I think are are interested in uh in doing the same but it's equally clear that that's not um in substitute for or at the expense of um a political Horizon for the Palestinians and ultimately a Palestinian State on the contrary um that piece has to be a part of uh any integration efforts any normalization efforts that was also very clear in my conversations uh during the course of this trip including in Saudi Arabia thank you [Music] um so again I think these things are are somewhat joined it's clear that as I mentioned before most of the countries I visited are really prepared to um I think support Gaza in the uh in the future uh to support uh all the efforts that are necessary and to support uh Palestinian L governance for for Gaza but it's also vitally important to to them uh that uh there be a pathway forward for the Palestinians in terms of their overall political rights uh and a very clear political Horizon uh we and they support Palestinian governance that's joined of Gaza and the uh the West Bank and a pathway to uh to to a state that's again very clear from everyone i' I talked to in the region thank [Music] you