Hamas has gained as many new operatives as it has lost since the Gaza war began, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as he called on Israel to accept a diplomatic end to the fighting.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council conference in Washington on Tuesday, Blinken said Hamas’ repeated resurgence across Gaza after more than a year of intense fighting proves that the war will not end anytime soon if Israel maintains its current strategy.
“We’ve long made the point to the Israeli government that Hamas cannot be defeated by a military campaign alone, that without a clear alternative — a post-conflict plan and a credible political horizon for the Palestinians — Hamas, or something just as abhorrent and dangerous, will grow back,” Blinken said.
“That’s exactly what’s happened in northern Gaza since Oct. 7,” he added. “Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back, Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there’s nothing else to fill the void.
“Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost.”
Blinken said Hamas was placing its bets on perpetuating the war as long as Israel remained in Gaza, claiming Israel’s current tactic of military pressure would benefit no one.
The secretary of state urged Israel to move forward with the current cease-fire and hostage deal on the table, given that the Jewish State has already dismantled the vast majority of Hamas’ terror network and killed an estimated 18,000 operatives, including its most senior leadership responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
During the conference, Blinken said Israel’s best bet for peace was to invite the Palestinian Authority and international partners to facilitate a new government in the Gaza Strip that would do away with Hamas’ hold in the territory.
Blinken said the tactic was needed to push back the narrative that Israel’s government is using the war to annex Gaza and the West Bank, which he said would create more problems than solve any.
“Israelis must abandon the myth that they can carry out de facto annexation without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its standing and to its security,” the secretary of state warned.
Blinken’s comments come after mediators signaled that Israel and Hamas reached a final draft for a cease-fire and hostage deal that could finally bring a close to the 15-month-long war.
The deal currently being discussed calls for the release of up to 33 Israeli hostages taken during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
“I believe we will get a ceasefire,” Blinken said, noting that it could come before or after the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
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