At the end of the summit of the G7 countries today (Wednesday), American Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about Israel's war in Gaza, saying that efforts should be made to "have a unified Palestinian government in Gaza and the West Bank."
Blinken even emphasized that Israel will not control Gaza the day after the war: "Israel cannot control Gaza, and its captains have informed us that they do not intend to do so. Changes are necessary, but we do not believe in reoccupation.
"The US sees a need for a future settlement that will include the voices and aspirations of the Palestinian people, rule by a unified Palestinian leadership in Gaza and the West Bank, and a continuous mechanism for reconstruction in Gaza. Despite the difficulty caused by the terrorist attack, the time to talk about the future is today and not after the war," he added.
Blinken repeated President Joe Biden's words that "a humanitarian pause is necessary" and said that "the Palestinian citizens must be protected, humanitarian aid must flow into the Strip and foreign citizens must be allowed to leave."
When repeated demands for a cease-fire are heard in the background, Blinken makes it clear that a cease-fire cannot be maintained, certainly not as long as the hostages are held captive in Gaza: "We all want to end the war as soon as possible and minimize civilian suffering. But the calls for a cease-fire are obliged to provide an explanation of how to deal with the expected results.
"Hamas holds more than 200 hostages and is capable of carrying out the October 7 attack again and again," he said.
Meanwhile, over 600 foreign nationals and their relatives are expected to leave the Strip today through the Rafah crossing. The list forwarded by the Palestinian authorities includes Filipino, Ukrainian, Canadian and other nationalities.
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