In the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

We will continue to focus intensely on our core priorities

helping Israel ensure that what happened on October

7 can never happen again, bringing the conflict to

an end as quickly as possible while minimizing the

loss of life and the suffering of civilians, getting

the remaining hostages back home to their families,

preventing the conflict from spreading and once and for all

breaking the devastating cycle of violence and

moving toward durable lasting peace.

What is striking to me is that even as again we

hear many countries urging the end to this conflict which we

would all like to see, I hear virtually no one saying

demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians,

that it lay down its arms, that it surrendered.

This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that.

This would have been over a month ago,

six weeks ago if Hamas had done that.

And how can it be that there are no demands may

made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim.