Cease-fire should be 'no-brainer' for Hamas, Blinken says
Voice of America
Palestinian medics evacuate wounded children during an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip by ambulance to a hospital in Rafah early May 4, 2024. Grooms celebrate during a mass wedding ceremony in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Accepting a cease-fire deal with Israel should be a "no-brainer" for Hamas, but the motivations of the militants' elusive Gaza-based leadership remain unclear, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday.
FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice seal in Washington, Nov. 28, 2018. The Justice Department said on Sept. 21, 2023, that a contractor for the U.S. government who is originally from Ethiopia was arrested on espionage charges. FILE - A person types on a laptop keyboard in North Andover, Mass., June 19, 2017.
In this picture released by the Israeli army on May 16, 2024, Israeli troops work to connect a U.S.-built floating pier to the shore. The new entry point will allow more humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. FILE - In this photo provided by the U.S. Central Command and taken on April 26, 2024, construction work continues on the floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea.
Burnt-out cars are seen in the parking lot of the old hospital on the outskirts of Noumea, French territory of New Caledonia, May 16, 2024. French gendarmes patrol the streets in Noumea, New Caledonia, May, 16, 2024. FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with a traditional dancer during a customary ceremony in his honour in Touho, north of New Caledonia, July 25, 2023. France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) chairs a security and defence council at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, May 16, 2024, after three nights of clashes in France's riot-struck Pacific territory of New Caledonia protest.