US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that days after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel last year, he threatened that President Joe Biden would not visit Israel as planned unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government allowed aid into Gaza. 

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Blinken in an interview with The New York Times, highlighted on the initial siege imposed by Israel on Gaza after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. 

The US state secretary further detailed how he met with Israeli leaders including Netanyahu during his trip to Israel after the attack and argued for hours on "end about the basic proposition that the humanitarian assistance needed to get to Palestinians in Gaza." 

Also read: Gaza population declined by 6% in 2024, Israel faced slower population growth: Report

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"And that was an argument that took place because you had in Israel in the days after Oct. 7 a totally traumatized society," he continued. 

Blinken said that this was not just the prime minister or a given leader in Israel, rather, this was an entire society that "did not want any assistance getting to a single Palestinian in Gaza."

"I argued that for nine hours," he added.

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But ultimately, Biden said, he had to threaten that Biden would not come to Israel if aid did not start going in. 

Also read: Hamas police chief, deputy killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza humanitarian zone

“I told the prime minister, I’m going to call the president and tell him not to come if you don’t allow this assistance to start flowing. And I called the president to make sure that he agreed with that, and he fully did," he said. 

He added "then we got the agreement to begin assistance through Rafah, which we expanded to Kerem Shalom and many other places."

US does not believe Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza

Blinken in the interview, said that the US does not believe that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, although he says that there were times when Israel was not “doing enough” to allow in humanitarian assistance.

Also read: Israel-Hamas hostage deal hit impasse; 'unlikely before end of Biden's term': Report

He further denied that Netanyahu was responsible for a ceasefire hostage deal falling apart in July, adding that ultimately it has been Hamas that foiled an agreement. 

“What we’ve seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded,” Blinken said. 

Disclaimer: WION takes the utmost care to accurately and responsibly report conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and non-state actors like the Islamic State, among others. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)