US' Blinken says Hamas cannot be completely eliminated: Israeli media

JERUSALEM

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli officials during his just-concluded visit that contrary to Tel Aviv’s stated goals, it is impossible to completely eliminate Hamas, Israeli media said on Wednesday.

During a meeting with the Israeli Security Cabinet, Blinken presented the US request for implementing a two-state solution as a vision for post-war Gaza, Israeli Channel 13 said.

Just as Israel has aspirations, the Palestinians also have aspirations, and Israel must accept that, Blinken told the Cabinet ministers, the channel reported.

Senior Israeli officials told the channel that Blinken's message was that "if the two-state solution is not put forward as a vision, Israel will not advance politically, not even in terms of normalization with Saudi Arabia."

Since the start of the current conflict on Oct. 7, following a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, Israel has said repeatedly that it aims to eliminate Hamas.

In attacks on the Gaza Strip since that date, Israel has killed over 23,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured some 60,000, along with a draconian blockade on much-needed supplies.

Blinken arrived in Israel Monday for a fourth visit since the start of the war against Gaza, as part of a regional tour that began last week in Türkiye. It also included stops in the Palestinian West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara