Meeting With Israeli President, US Secretary Of State Blinken Hopes Hostage Release Continues

JAKARTA - The United States Secretary of State said he hoped the release of hostages would continue, when he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Blinken arrived in Israel on Wednesday night. Apart from meeting President Herzog, he also held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his office, as well as attending a war cabinet meeting.

The meeting between President Herzog and Foreign Minister Blinken took place after a deadly attack in Jerusalem that killed three Israelis and injured eight others.

"This is another example of the situation we face, the endless war we are fighting against terror organizations, in this very complicated and challenging time," President Herzog said.

He also said Israel "worked, prayed and demanded the immediate release of all hostages, thanking the United States for their hard work to free the hostages."

"We don't know their whereabouts and we demand their immediate release. It's clear that a small toddler will be released with his mother and hopefully with his father as soon as possible," he hoped.

Meanwhile, in his response, Foreign Minister Blinken expressed his condolences for the casualties and injuries to the shootings in Jerusalem.

Foreign Minister Blinken further praised the ceasefire situation that had entered its seventh day in Gaza, saying it allowed the entry of more humanitarian aid, hoping the release of hostages would continue.

"Since the first day, we have focused on efforts to free the hostages from Gaza, from Hamas," said Foreign Minister Blinken.

"And we have seen over the past week the very positive developments of the hostages returning home and reuniting with their families, and it must continue to this day. This also allows increased humanitarian aid to be given to innocent civilians in Gaza who desperately need it. So this process yields results. This is important and we hope this can continue," explained Foreign Minister Blinken.

"At the same time I look forward to detailed talks with the Israeli government about the future in Gaza. The United States firmly supports Israel and its right to defend itself and seeks to ensure October 7 incidents do not happen again," he added.