Baghdad Today – Follow-up
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday (January 14, 2025) that “Iran has lost its ability to arm Hezbollah” in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah forces have retreated north of the Litani River and Iran has lost the ability to supply the party with weapons,” Blinken said during his participation in discussions on the Atlantic Council, adding, “Hamas’ military capabilities and its ability to govern the Gaza Strip have been undermined and Iran’s capabilities have declined.”
He pointed out that “the (Bashar) Assad regime has collapsed, and the balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly, but the situation there is still dangerous.”
Blinken continued, “We can draw a new reality in the Middle East in which everyone enjoys peace and stability, and the conflict in the Middle East affects our bases and forces in the region, and terrorist groups are trying to exploit the situation.”
He pointed out that “Israel was able to destroy the Iranian air defenses, but it faces an unsustainable situation on its northern borders after Hezbollah controlled large areas.”
He noted that, “Our goal was to prevent the outbreak of a regional war in the Middle East and to prevent Hezbollah from posing a threat to Israel. Our principles were that the Gaza Strip under Hamas rule would not pose a continuing threat to Israel and to stop the war in the Strip.”
The US Secretary of State stressed, “We seek to end the war in Gaza in a way that will lay the foundation for lasting peace, and we seek to end the war in Gaza in a way that will advance the legitimate aspirations of the Israelis and a state for the Palestinians,” he said.
He said, “After we realized that Israel’s goal was to undermine Hamas’s capabilities, President Biden worked to achieve a ceasefire agreement,” noting that “Egypt and Qatar reached a final formula for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and the ball is now in Hamas’s court.”
“We are working on a plan that includes the day after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and how to govern the Strip, and if we reach an agreement on Gaza now or after January 20, it will be an expression of the framework that Biden had set in May,” he added.
He pointed out that “there is a body that will take over the rule of the Gaza Strip the day after the war and will hand over the rule to the Palestinian Authority. After we realized that Israel’s goal of undermining Hamas’s ability to achieve President Biden’s work to achieve a ceasefire agreement, we must ensure that Hamas is unable to rule the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian Authority, after its reform, takes over the rule of the Strip.”
He stressed that “no one can force Israel to accept a Palestinian state ruled by Hamas or any other extremist organization, and the new agreement must not affect Israel’s security or its status.”
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