Antony Blinken: US, partners 85% done on Gaza ceasefire before Trump
Former secretary of state Antony Blinken stated that America and its partners in the Middle East were "85% of the way" to being done before the Trump administration took over.
In an episode of "The Ex Files" with journalist Christiane Amanpour and Jamie Rubin, published on Wednesday, Blinken dove into talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Trump administration's handling of the war, and the Biden administration's plan for the "day after."
Rubin went on to note that the Biden administration, in tandem with senior Israeli and Arab officials, came up with 'the only game in town' to replace Hamas with an Arab force that the Israeli government could trust in Gaza.
Blinken claimed that for 'many, many months' Israeli representatives resisted speaking about the 'day after' plan for Gaza, but that the Biden administration had made it '85% of the way there.'
'The 'there' is having transitional arrangements with Arabs and others playing a full part in security and administration in reconstruction in partnership with Palestinians, and then ultimately handing over to Palestinians.'
What did the Biden Administration plan for the day after?
Blinken noted that there were differences as to which Palestinian faction it would be, and named the Palestinian Authority as an option.
'The Israelis, of course, were extremely reluctant, not to say opposed to anything that would hand off to the PA, because for years, of course, they've been trying to keep the PA down so that they wouldn't have anyone to negotiate with toward the realization of a Palestinian state.'
However, Blinken said that he was confident that the previous administration was close to getting a deal completed. 'I believe that ultimately we could get over the finish line.'
The former secretary of state noted that while eventually, a deal with a six-week period for further negotiations was reached, it fizzled out.
'It's not at all clear to me that the six weeks that we had were used in a way to really push the parties together to say, 'Okay, we agree. Here's what each of us is going to do. Here's how we're going to make the ceasefire enduring.'' 'I think we're actually back to that point right now. And now, six months later, so much suffering."
When asked by Amanpour if he believed that Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza, Blinken noted that there was extreme trauma on every side of the equation, but that Hamas had embedded itself under civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
'The Israelis said that their objectives in Gaza were to make sure, first and foremost, that October 7 could never happen again. To do that, they wanted to dismantle the military organization of Hamas because that's what it was,' Blinken noted.
'It achieved that objective many, many months ago.
'The question now is if the Israelis are going to pull out, which they should, and I believe they must ultimately pull out of Gaza, what fills the vacuum? Because it's also understandable that they can't and won't simply leave a vacuum that Hamas could refill.'
Blinken finally noted that while he understood people's frustration and emotions after October 7, he believed more pressure should have been put on Hamas.
'I wish that those who, understandably, have been moved and motivated by everything that's happened since October 7, if they'd spent maybe just 10% of their time, calling on Hamas, demanding Hamas put down its arms, give up the hostages, stop what it's doing, maybe if the world had done that, we'd be in a different place.'
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