The United States remains “intensely focused” on freeing hostages held in Gaza despite the resumption of the Israel-Hamas war after a week-long truce, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.
“We remained intensely focused on getting everyone home, getting hostages back, something that I also worked on today,” he said, after meeting Arab foreign ministers in Dubai.
Blinken met with the top diplomats of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain during his brief visit to Dubai, as well as a representative of the Palestinian Authority.
“We’re determined to do everything we can to get everyone reunited with their families, including pursuing the process that had worked for seven days,” Blinken said, saying the work was continuing “almost hour by hour”.
Blinken spent the day in Dubai, which is hosting scores of world leaders for the COP28 climate conference, after a visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Israel resumed its deadly bombardment of Gaza on Friday, saying it struck more than 200 targets in the densely populated Palestinian territory despite international calls for a renewed truce.
