Blinken Says Israel’s Assault Helped Create as Many Hamas Members as It Killed

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Speaking before the ceasefire was announced, Blinken effectively said Israel hadn’t made any advancements in its stated mission of defeating Hamas in more than 15 months of the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza, writes Sharon Zhang.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivering remarks on the Middle East at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (State Department /Chuck Kennedy)

By Sharon Zhang
Truthout

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Hamas has gained as many members as it lost amid Israel’s invasion of Gaza — despite Israeli forces claiming that their relentless slaughter of countless Palestinian civilians over the past 15 months was necessary in order to defeat Hamas.

“We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost,” Blinken said on Tuesday, in a speech at the Atlantic Council laying out the U.S. vision for Gaza after Israel’s assault.

Israeli leaders have long claimed that the primary objective of their incursion into Gaza is to totally defeat and eliminate Hamas. Many experts warned that this is not achievable through military assault, as Hamas was, in fact, created by people opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestine — and the current catastrophe created by Israel would only drive recruitment.

In practicality, it has been clear to advocates for Palestinian rights and experts that Israel’s goal is not to root out Hamas, but to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza through mass slaughter and the destruction of all infrastructure necessary to sustain life there.

This extermination campaign is not just retaliation for the Oct.  7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, but also in service of many Israeli settlers’ long-term goal of occupying all of Palestine.

Blinken’s remark effectively means that Israel has not made any advancements in its stated mission of defeating Hamas in more than 15 months of the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza. During that time, Israel has killed at least 45,000 Palestinians, including 18,000 children, and reduced the majority of the enclave to rubble.


(Experts have noted that the official death toll is likely a vast undercount, as it doesn’t include people who are missing, or who have died due to Israel’s starvation and disease campaign.)

Blinken’s speech came as Israel and Hamas were reportedly very close to reaching a hostage exchange deal.  [The deal was announced on Wednesday, days before the Trump administration takes over on Monday.]

However, in his remarks, Blinken seemed to lay the groundwork for further Israeli occupation and massacres in Gaza, saying that the continued recruitment for Hamas is “a recipe for enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”

Elsewhere in his speech, the secretary of state said that the U.S. has “long made the point to the Israeli government that Hamas cannot be defeated by a military campaign alone.”

But the Biden administration has never once wavered in its military support of Israel, with the State Department granting Israel everything it wanted as Israeli forces have carpet bombed the Gaza Strip and deprived Palestinians there of food, water, and other basic needs.

In fact, U.S. ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said in an interview this week that the U.S. policy throughout the genocide has been to avoid any substantial criticism of Israel’s military goals. “Fundamentally, nothing that we ever said was, ‘just stop the war.’” Lew said.

Lew also directly contradicted Blinken’s claim that the U.S. has questioned Israel’s stated goal of destroying Hamas.

“I don’t think you’ve heard the secretary or [President Joe Biden] or [National Security Adviser] Jake Sullivan ever back away from the proposition that Israel had a right and a responsibility to prosecute the war, that eliminating Hamas as a military and a governing force is a shared objective, and that the narrative can’t begin on October 8th,” Lew told Times of Israel.

Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific StandardThe New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky.

This article is from Truthout.

Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.

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6 comments for “Blinken Says Israel’s Assault Helped Create as Many Hamas Members as It Killed

  1. Fastball
    January 19, 2025 at 17:21

    I’m tied of leftie sites continuing to use the language of the oppressor / war criminal.

    Calling Blinken a “secretary” is the title bestowed on him by the war criminal state. His only title should be “War Criminal”. Thus, “War Criminal Blinken said today ..” etc. That goes for Biden himself, and his entire administration cabal. Biden is a war criminal and that should be his ONLY title.

    Similarly obnoxious is using the phrase “Health insurance industry”. “Industry” is a term purposely appropriated by thieves and effectively mafia dons. The health insurance thieves deserve no better title than “thief” or “mobster” when applied to an individual, and “racket” when applied to the racket as a whole. Industries make things. Rackets take things.

    • Consortiumnews.com
      January 19, 2025 at 18:06

      Certainly there are more subtle and much more effective ways to level criticism. It’s the difference between journalism and agit-prop.

  2. Black Lungs
    January 16, 2025 at 16:03

    … which is why Blinkin took no effective action to stop the assault?

    Blinkin always had the Off switch in his hand. America stops supplying the bombs and missiles, the assault stops. IIRC, the Israelis said as much. So, if Blinkin felt this was not productive, why not throw the off switch? Why is it that this is the first time the American people, his employers, are hearing this opinion from him? If this is the opinion of the highest ranking foreign service officer in America, why did he not make the case for throwing the off switch precisely because as the highest ranking official he felt it was doing more harm than good.

    Oh, and since I don’t believe Blinkin, I’m assuming he’s lying when he says “as many” instead of “more”, which is probably closer to the truth. I’m from the hills of the Hatfields and McCoys. Among my fellow Americans, this would cause blood feuds for decades as they sought revenge for dead parents, uncles and siblings. If this was back where I grew up, no way this only creates as many as were killed. In America, it multiplies.

  3. Vera Gottlieb
    January 15, 2025 at 16:25

    And who can blame Hamas??? Pressure brings about counter pressure. As for the 42day ceasefire – I wish Palestinians well but I DON’T TRUST israel.

    • Brian Bixby
      January 16, 2025 at 10:34

      The Lebanon ceasefire lasted just under two days before Israel violated it, I give this one under a day.

      • Black Lungs
        January 16, 2025 at 16:09

        This one isn’t even in writing beyond phase one. The deal says future stages are still to be negotiated during phase one. Israel’s withdrawal isn’t until phase 2.

        Under Clinton’s Oslo Accords, the Israelis got what they wanted in the early ‘phases’, but items such as Palestinian statehood and a land corridor between Gaza and West Bank were put off to phase 5. The Israelis stopped negotiating before phase 5. So, the way to read this is that an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is still subject to negotiations that Israel might not want to hold with any rapidity.

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