Death Toll in Gaza Continues to Increase, US Secretary of State Blinken Asks Hamas to Also be Required to Lay Down Weapons and Surrender

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Twitter/@SecBlinken)

JAKARTA - United States Minister of Foreign Affairs Antony Blinken asked countries that want the war to end immediately, also to urge the Hamas militant group to surrender and lay down their weapons, including to stop hiding behind civilians.

"What's surprising to me is that, once again, we hear many countries calling for an end to this conflict, which we all want to see. (But) I don't hear a single one saying, demanding that Hamas stop hiding behind civilians, lay down its weapons, then surrender," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Blinken at a press conference at the Department of State, reported by CNN, December 21.

"This would be over tomorrow if Hamas did that. This would have happened more than a month ago, six weeks ago, if Hamas did that," he continued.

"How can there be no demands from the aggressor and only demands from the victim," stressed Minister of Foreign Affairs Blinken.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Blinken further said that it is understandable that everyone wants this conflict to end as quickly as possible. However, according to him, "if this conflict ends with Hamas remaining and having the capacity and intention to repeat the events of October 7 again and again, this is not in Israel's interests, not in the interests of the region, and not in the interests of the world."

When asked about the growing casualty toll, US Secretary of State Blinken said it was "clear that the conflict will continue and needs to be moved to a lower intensity phase".

"We hope and want to see a shift to more targeted (Israeli) operations with smaller troop numbers that are really focused on dealing with the Hamas leadership, the tunnel network, and some other important things," he said

"And when that happens, I think you will also see that the harm caused to civilians is also significantly reduced," he said.

It is known that Uncle Sam's country is a traditional ally of Israel, protects it from UN action and has twice vetoed action at the Security Council.

Separately, the death toll of Palestinians due to Israeli attacks in the region, in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, has reached 20,000, according to Palestinian officials, quoted by Al Jazeera.

The Gaza Government Media Office on Wednesday reported that at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women were among those killed.