00:00Keep on the Lebanon border issue.
00:05Is it fair to say that this has now become like a greater focus of your diplomacy, like
00:08in the meetings this afternoon, than the situation in Gaza?
00:12This seems to have really heightened in terms of the rhetoric coming from both sides.
00:17Do you see this as a sort of – the priority is now avoiding a broader conflict in the
00:23north?
00:24No, they continue to be equally important priorities, and they have been from the beginning.
00:29We have been incredibly focused on the situation in Gaza since right after October 7th, but
00:35if you go back and look at what the Secretary said in his first visit to the region and
00:40what we said in really every trip, keeping the conflict from escalating has been one
00:44of our overriding strategic goals.
00:46And there have been times when it looked like there was more of a chance of the conflict
00:51escalating than others.
00:52Obviously, we had the time when there was direct fire against the State of Israel from
00:56inside Iran.
00:57We've seen the pace of attacks across the Lebanese border kind of rise and fall over
01:03time.
01:04But that overriding strategic objective has been there from the beginning for us.
01:09We continue to focus on both.
01:12This is not what you were saying, but I would just say that the – I wouldn't – the
01:16number of questions we get about any one topic is not always indicative of the actual work
01:21that's going on inside the government.
01:22We continue to work to pursue a ceasefire.
01:25Conversations going on between our government and the Government of Israel – Governments
01:28of Israel, Egypt, and Qatar about how best to achieve that ceasefire in a way that protects
01:33Israel's security interests, gets the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian
01:38people.
01:39But no, I wouldn't rank them in any kind of order.
01:41And also on the relationship with the Israeli Government, there's been this fallout from
01:48the video that Prime Minister Netanyahu made talking about what Secretary Blinken said
01:52to him in their meeting.
01:57There's obviously – the administration has spoken about this and said some parts
02:03of it are not true.
02:04I just wanted to get your response, because there's a latest comment from the prime
02:06minister.
02:07He's saying he's willing to absorb personal attacks – he calls them personal attacks,
02:11apparently in a reference to the way that the administration has responded to this video
02:16– in order to get the weapons that Israel needs for its survival.
02:19So yeah, how do you respond to this kind of – there seems to be a continuing discord
02:26between the way you're talking about this and specifically on the issue of whether you're
02:31providing Israel with everything it needs.
02:33So I'm not exactly sure what the prime minister is talking about or what he was trying to
02:38accomplish.
02:39All I can tell you is what the Secretary told the prime minister directly in his meeting
02:44in Israel last week, which is that our commitment to Israel's security is sacrosanct.
02:50We have proved that not just with words but with deeds, and I don't think it's productive
02:55to engage in an intense public back-and-forth about this.
02:59So we will just let our actions continue to speak for themselves, as they have since October
03:047th.
03:05Yeah.
03:06Yeah.
03:07Staying on Lebanon, you and other U.S. officials have made clear that you don't want a second
03:10front to open, but how likely at this stage do you believe that a new confrontation between
03:15Hezbollah and Lebanon and Israel –
03:17I'm not going to give you any kind of assessment of likelihood.
03:20I will say it is an intense concern of ours, has been for some time.
03:25As I said, there are times where we have been more concerned about it, as it has never gone
03:28away as a concern.
03:29But whenever you see an increase in strikes across the border, that magnifies our concern
03:34at any given moment.
03:35So of course, we have intense concerns about it right now, which is why we are pursuing
03:41diplomacy to try to achieve a resolution.
03:43A U.S. official told us today that Israel hasn't come close to achieving their stated
03:47objective of destroying Hamas in Gaza.
03:50Its defense minister made similar comments publicly.
03:53Does the U.S. believe that Israel is militarily capable of succeeding militarily against Hezbollah
04:00with or without American support?
04:02Against Hezbollah?
04:03Yeah.
04:04I just don't want to offer any kind of an assessment about a conflict that we hope never
04:09happens in the first place.
04:11Well, you may be more persuasive if you point out that it's not one that Israel can do.
04:15We will have – we have conversations about that sort of thing behind closed doors, but
04:18I don't think it's helpful for me to offer that kind of assessment publicly.
04:20Okay.
04:21And then just because so much of this has also been predicated or has been accompanied
04:24by the U.S. diplomatic push to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, where do those talks stand?
04:29Have mediators engaged, re-engaged with Hamas to get a read on what their – what the bridgeable
04:35gaps are at this stage?
04:37We are engaging in conversations, as I said a moment ago, with governments of Egypt, Israel,
04:41and Qatar about how to move forward, responding to the proposal that Hamas made last week
04:49to try to come to a resolution that is consistent with what the United Nations Security Council
04:53endorsed and what countries across the world have signed up to.
04:57But I don't think at this point it's helpful for me to talk about those conversations
05:01in detail.
05:02Just to – but there's been no re-engagement with Hamas, either their political –
05:05I just – I don't want to get into that publicly right now.
05:08I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –
05:09Okay.
05:10We'll come back.
05:11Go ahead.
05:12Yeah.
05:13While we're on Hizballah, can I just –
05:14Okay.
05:15I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –
05:16Okay.
05:17We'll come back.
05:18While we're on Hizballah, can I just –
05:19Okay.
05:20I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –
05:21Okay.
05:22We'll come back.
05:23While we're on Hizballah, can I just –
05:24Okay.
05:25I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –
05:26Okay.
05:27I have one more on Ukraine, then I'll –
05:28Okay.
05:29We'll come back.
05:30While we're on Hizballah, can I just –
05:31Okay.
