JUST IN: State Department Holds Press Briefing After Biden Unveils Three-Part Gaza Peace Plan

hello everyone welcome back to those of you who are traveling us last with us last week start with some opening comments since the president's remarks on Friday secretary blinkin has been engaging in intense diplomacy with foreign counterparts to urge the completion of an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages and set the stage for lasting peace over that time the secretary spoken to the foreign Ministers of Turkey Egypt cter Saudi Arabia Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as well as Israeli defense minister Galant and War Cabinet member Benny gance in all of his calls the secretary has underscored the benefits of this proposal to both Israelis and Palestinians for Palestinians a ceasefire would see an end to the Daily death toll in Gaza an end to the destruction that has torn so many families apart and robbed children women men of their lives and their Futures it would allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to begin returning to their neighborhoods as the International Community surges humanitarian assistance into Gaza and launches a major reconstruction effort for Israelis too this proposal offers a path to a better future it would bring home the hostages who have now been separated from their loved ones for 240 days it would unlock the possibility of calm along Israel's border with Lebanon where we saw continued terrorist attacks by Hezbollah just today so the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from their homes uh for the past 8 months could finally return home and it would set the conditions to finally realize the Strategic Reign realignment which Israel has long sought improved relations with its Arab neighbors and the isolation of Iran and the terrorist groups it funds this is the possibility that exists for Israelis and Palestinians today as the United States said in a joint statement on Saturday with Egypt and cutar this proposal will bring immediate relief to both the long-suffering people of Gaza and the long-suffering hostages and their families it offers a road map for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the crisis the world should know the Palestinian people should know that the only thing standing in the way of an immediate ceasefire today is Hamas The Proposal on the table is nearly identical to what Hamas said it would accept just a few weeks ago and it is now time for them to act it is time for them to accept the deal it is time for to finalize this agreement and put an end to the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians alike and with that Matt right thank you um and welcome back just uh logistically all of these calls that uh all of well if you did say calls I guess they were all on the phone they were all calls yeah okay cuz he did see fedon in but in Prague he saw fedon on Thursday he then talked he talked to uh fedon and the foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia and Jordan on the plane on the way back on Friday he talked to the foreign ministers the prime minister of um uh cutter and the foreign minister of Egypt and for ministers of Egypt and UAE on Saturday and then he talked to Benny gance and Y Gant last night okay so nothing nothing today yet nothing today yet uh okay so where do things stand I mean I think you tried to make it very clear right now that everything rests with Hamas but there seems to be a lot of friction to say the least inside the Israeli government about this um are you confident that the Israelis have in fact signed off and are willing to go along with us we are completely confident it was an Israeli proposal obviously it was a proposal that they developed in consultation with the United States and cter and Egypt the three countries that have played the mediating role throughout this process but this was ultimately an Israeli proposal in terms of where it stands it was submitted to Hamas on Thursday night we have yet to hear a response we obviously saw the statement that they put out I think it was on Friday but we haven't gotten a response back from them in terms of the um inside the Israeli government the president spoke to this in his remarks on Friday where he said that fully anticipated that this would be controversial with some members of the Israeli government of course we've seen some members of the Israeli government already come out and uh oppose it in fact opposed it over the weekend but the case that he made and that we will continue to make is that this is a proposal that is in the long-term security interest of Israel it's obviously in the long-term interest of the Palestinian people as well um but this is a chance to not just come to an end in the to the conflict in Gaza and return uh the hostages home to their families but help solve the conflict in the North of Israel which is displacing tens of thousands of of Israelis um and finally bring further integration with the region which is in Israel's long-term security interest okay and then but then on the other side you make the case how it's great for Israel what does uh what does Hamas get out of it and I'm not not asking because I think or that they should necessarily get something out of it but it's a negotiation and there's always give and take and Concession so how what's what are the selling points for for Hamas do you think so let me talk about the what the Palestinian people get out of it I know that's not the exact question that you asked it's not actually I think it's a different question it is a different question but I'll can you answer the one that I I'm going I'm going to answer both of them so the Palestinian because they ought to be the same they ought to be the same answer and it but it might not be um you're right Palestinian people get an end to the conflict in Gaza an immediate ceasefire um they get a surge of humanitarian assistance 600 trucks a day um we are already with International partners to uh begin the Reconstruction of Gaza um incredible B they get to return to their homes and their neighborhoods and those who have lost their homes get the ability to start to rebuild those homes now as it pertains to Hamas look if senoir decides that he's safe in a tunnel and this proposal isn't in his interest because he feels safe that's an assessment he can make but I think it is very clearly in the interest of the Palestinian people and we would hope that given this proposal is nearly identical to the one that Hamas submitted just several weeks ago that they would not move the goalpost now and try to walk away from it right well but all right I'll let I'll let that be last one no I I I I get where you're going but look I mean I can't answer for Hamas but Hamas I would just say Hamas claims they represent the Palestinian people this is manifestly in their interest so we and given the fact that Hamas just a few weeks ago signed off on vertu identical proposal but you just spoke to the points of why this would be wonderful for Israel and uh you know there's the way you've approached this so far is that Hama the way a lot of people have approached is that Hamas doesn't care about the Palestinian people they only care about themselves and so there are in a sense three parties do this Israel the Palestinian people non Hamas and Hamas so but I think the answer to my question which is what's in it for Hamas is essentially nothing for that so again right right uh so they claim to represent I I'm not trying to be cute they claim to represent the interest of the pal people that and you've made it clear many many times that you don't think that they do care about I suppose this proposal put I suppose that this proposal puts that question very squar didn't the last one and the one before that and the one before that and given that this one is nearly identical to the one that Hamas presented I think it my last one I want to focus on this nearly identical what you know what does that mean because a lot of small changes I've seen negotiations break down over the placement of punctuation marks commas dashes um you know what do you mean nearly identical yeah and that I can't get into in detail from here at the podium but I will say if you look at the major elements of this proposal um they are nearly identical to the major elements of The Proposal that Hamas submitted several weeks ago there are some minor differences there are differences that we think that can be bridged and it's not just the United States thinks they can be bridged there are differences that the other mediators Egypt and cutter think that can be that think can be bridged um I think actually H it's this is a serious enough proposal that Hamas should just accept it but if we there need to be further negotiations we think those are all imminently bridgeable if and this is the if if Hamas wants a deal and if are there nearly identical does that apply to to the what the Israelis submitted or is this word for word what the Israeli submitted the The Proposal that went to Hamas yeah it is what the Israeli submitted they word for word yeah so other words words the nearly identical does not apply to the Israeli that that is that is a uh comparison between the Israeli proposal which is what went to Hamas on Thursday and the proposal that Hamas submitted several weeks ago all right thank you maybe just follow up on that um you know say that the the this is basically what Israel has has proposed or accepted of course there's criticism within Israel as well it's not a monolithic country are you sure that uh that Israel can follow through on this that if Hamas says yes that uh considering the Coalition politics and the politics within within netanyahu's cabinet that that Israel would definitely go ahead with this so I certainly can't speak to internal Israeli politics um complicated enough for Israelis to speak to without the United States trying to weigh into them uh I would say two things number one this is a proposal from the Israeli government um so that's the first thing that's important um but number two I think it is important to speak to the benefits of this proposal to all Israelis and that's why you saw the president do it uh on Friday it's why you've seen the secretary speak to some of these same themes and issues a number of times including uh in Israel and I will say the the point that the president made in his remarks on Friday that you've seen the the secretary say a few times is that endless conflict in Gaza in pursuit of some idea of total Victory is not going to make Israel safer we agree with Israel that Hamas cannot run Gaza we agree with Israel on Israel's right and Israel's obligation to pursue Hamas for uh the terrorist attacks of October 7th um but an endless conflict without a political plan forward um is just going to leave Israel bogged down in Gaza and it's going to exacerbate the security challenges that they face in the North of Israel it's going to exacerbate the security challenges they face in the West Bank it's going to exacerbate the security challenges they face uh against Iran and the proxies that it funds because it makes it more difficult to for Israel to work with its allies and its Partners uh in the neighborhood so in addition to the long to the long-term security interests that we think this proposal would help address in addition to bringing the hostages home which is obviously in the National interest of Israel IT addresses the very real short medium security challenges that they face and that's why we think it's in their interest and that's the case that we will continue to make but the president was pretty clear about this that we recognize there are people in Israel uh including the Israeli government that oppose it and we're going to continue to make that case and we expect that the government of Israel will too can I just follow up on on two things with that the um uh first of all in the uh the The Proposal itself I me the in the president's remarks he saying that Hamas basically can't do another October 7th attack um in terms of what's what's the assessment for that what's what's the basis for that is is there anything else that needs to be done to to ensure that outcome basically would under this would Hamas need to more formally lay down some arms is there some sort of settlement that that have been evolved to uh to make sure that that's the case so let me separate um uh two parts of that question because I think they're slightly different one is just a question of capability and uh Hamas clearly does not have the capabilities it had on October 7th when it launched um uh that ter hor horrific terrorist attack it has seen its leadership degraded not all but uh significantly degraded it has seen uh a great uh deal of its person killed or captured uh it has seen a great deal of its military material destroyed and not just the weapons themselves but the underground factories that they were using to produce more weapons that they used on October 7th those have been in many cases destroyed by Israel so it is um in many ways an incredibly diminished organization from the one that it was uh on October 7th and we do not believe could conduct an attack anything like scale and scope that did on October 7th now it still poses a threat absolutely Kamas launched Rockets against Israel just last week and Israel needs to um continue to have the ability to defend itself against that threat um but this goes to the point that we ultimately think you cannot address this threat with just a military solution this is what I was getting to the other day when I said this idea of pursuing a total Victory which the president spoke to that just a military campaign in itself while it will without a doubt continue to um kill and capture members of Hamas um is also going to serve as a recruitment device for other potential Hamas members that will come and join and replenish the ranks and so you have to have not just a military campaign but a political path forward as well and that is to get around to the second part or what I deemed is the second part of your question um what the secretary and other members of the administration have been working on with other partners in the region since uh uh or intensive since early January and that is a political path that provides for the Reconstruction uh of Gaza um a political path for the security of Gaza and so when you look at this proposal obviously the first phase is for the immediate release of of um uh some hostages and a ceasefire and then over at uh during phase one you would negotiate phase two and in phase two and in phase three we would pursue uh what we've returned to uh term the day after and it's how you um ultimately come up with a different governing Authority for the West for Gaza that is not Hamas and I'll just make clear in case there's any question when the secretary gave a speech in November in Tokyo uh he made quite clear that one of the principles that we see for the end of this conflict is that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza period full stop sorry for the incredibly long answer that's okay uh do you want to just can just Pro just just actually just one thing that's like but just in the proposal just the language major population Center that the Israelis would draw from is there actually a list of what the major population centers are or is there some wiggle room could this be something that become a point of contention in the future so it just means what it means which is Major population centers and partly that is because the the population of Gaza has been fluid or where the population of Gaza is has been fluid over the past months because you've seen people move from one place to another so it means major areas in Gaza where um you have uh people gathered together and so that's that's the point of it I don't want to get into it anymore from here um but we think the term is fairly obvious yeah thank you m I just wanted to follow specifically on this assessment of hamas's military capability because some of Israeli officials seem to have taken objection to that line in the president's speech about what they are capable of doing John Kirby has since said that this stems from us intelligence and Military assessments as to what they're capable of are those assessments something that the Israelis share in terms of what Hamas is capable of and then secondly is that the same bar for the Israelis because it seems to be that that's at the Crux of whether they're willing to agree to a permanent ceasefire or not so I'm not going to speak to what the Israeli military or intelligence assessment might be I as I just said our assessment is that Hamas in no way could conduct a terrorist attack the size the scale the scope of what it launched on October 7th um it has been diminished as a terrorist organization but that again does not mean that the threat has disappeared it has not Hamas continues to fight Israeli soldiers in Gaza it continues to launch rocket attacks in in Gaza and those need to be dealt with um in terms of but but in terms of um where the proposal where this road map would go forward there are a number of issues that would need to be negotiated as we transition from phase one to phase two and that's what I was getting that in in my comments a moment ago that we don't think uh this idea of total Victory where you pursue a military campaign in perpetuity with really uh no end inside is something that's in the security interest of Israel it's obviously not in the interest of the Palestinian people and so that is the point that we'll continue to make to them without getting into specifically what the Israelis assess is there a difference between the US assessment and the Israelis assessment again I can't really get in I can't answer that question without getting to what their assessment is I can only speak for the United States okay so speaking only for the United States is this a recent assessment because presumably hamas's capabilities would have been steadily degraded up until this point has something changed where they've reached a sort of Benchmark in our view I cannot give you a date where um we made that assessment but we have seen their capabilities steadily degraded um over the past eight months of this uh campaign obviously you saw it first in the North and then in conun and then significantly with destruction of tunnels that housed hamas's major weapons manufacturing programs these IDF made those quite public when they did it um and so when you look at hamas's capabilities I think it it's um it's quite clear that while they clear still pose a a terrorist threat and we will back Israel's um right to deal with that threat we do not believe they could uh again launch attack the size the scale of October 7th okay I'm sorry so there so the US is unilaterally assessing this there may still be a difference as to what the Israelis think Hamas is capable of I just can't speak it is a US assessment I can't speak to them yeah okay and then one last one I mean if this uh as you guys have put it is the best possible deal that negotiators to this point have been able to present Hamas what is the plan if they say no uh so I'm not going to deal with hypotheticals as we' made quite clear there's no reason they should say no this is essentially The Proposal that they made now if they want to move the goalpost and back away from what is essentially a proposal they put forward several weeks ago at some point Hamas ought to have to explain to the world why it has rejected this proposal and that's what the president was making clear on Friday when um we all get why people criticize Israel we all get why people criticize the United States for our support for Israel um but this is a proposal to actually reach an immediate ceasefire to Surge humanitarian assistance in um and ultimately set the conditions for an end to the war why wouldn't Hamas accept it and so we have welcomed the the statements that have come out in the Arab world calling on this deal to be finalized we have welcomed the statements that we have seen from the G7 and from other leaders calling for this deal to be finalized uh only Hamas can speak to um what it will do but it ought to have it uh ought to have to explain that answer if they do reject this proposal that is as I said manifestly in the interest of the Palestinian people if they do reject it though you would expect the Israeli campaign to continue continue and for the US continue supporting Israel as it pursues that I'm not going to deal with hypotheticals but I think the Israelis have made quite clear that the campaign would continue absent a ceasefire okay I'll um yeah thank you um I I wanted just to try and understand what the space uh for we're talking talking about going from phase one to phase two in this deal um if if you're saying you still have this strong line that Hamas can't run Gaza in the future uh but you're also saying that there's no path to to Total Victory to to Total sort of eradication of Hamas is by military means alone is what I mean by that right so you're so what you're asking is for Hamas to peacefully the leaders and the members of Hamas to peacefully disarm and sort of just disappear uh you what what what is the actual sort of proposal here for someone like Yaya sinoa who's there he's he's a leader you're saying him and his CAD Cadre of leaders of Hamas have no role in in in the future of Gaza so so what what's what are they going where are they going to be in the future so because that is uh quite clearly an issue that will still need to be negotiated uh we haven't even gotten an acceptance of this proposal yet but should it be accepted phase two and all these related questions are things that will have to be negotiated as part of the process I'm not going to do that negotiation uh here in public um that said we have long made clear that we think Hamas should should lay down its arms um uh and that continues to be our position you have kind of moved from earlier in the war I think the you know you were strongly supporting Israel's goal of of completely eradicating Hamas now there seems to be this little space for they can exist in some form in no no that is not at all what our position is um what our position is is that you cannot eliminate Hamas just through military means just through a military campaign and this has been the experience of the United States in counterterrorism uh uh activities all around the world that a military means by itself without some kind of political path for the population will ultimately prove um uh ineffective and you can take out terrorists and see those terrorists replaced and ultimately find yourself in the same strategic position you did at the start of the campaign and so that's why you have to pair a military campaign which Israel has executed um with a political plan for the people in Gaza and that is ultimately what we are trying to pursue yeah go ahead thank you man um if the president said that this was an Israeli proposal in essence why would there be the need to implore the Israelis to accept it could you explain that to us we are not we are employing imploring others in the Israeli government to accept this but this is a this is this is a proposal that was put forward by the government of Israel right I think we were wining this with eyes wide open that there are certain people in the Israeli cabinet in the Israeli government who would probably not look too kindly on this and of course we've seen their statements in in the day since but ultimately this is a an Israeli government proposal but but site to the to the point it's a proposal the government of Israel made and we expected that there would be intense debate about it in Israel there has been you saw demonstrators out on Saturday night urging that the proposal move forward and of course you saw uh several members of the cabinet urging its rejection and so what the president's um message was is that Israel um should reject those voices at the ends of the spectrum who have said don't take a deal to bring the hostages home don't take a deal to advance Israel's long-term security interest now knowing that there is the war cabinet and there is a larger cabinet and so on where there is a great deal of V of power among certain people in the larger cabinet and so on so it conceivably they could turn it down what would be your second plan in this case because we saw we we heard the president allow me for a minute we heard the president say this war must come to an end and you know using the most authoritative Podium on Earth which is the White House to say this I mean there seems to be some sort of commitment that this war has to end so the reason I was smiling at the question is I'm interested that the question is about what Israel might do about a proposal that they put forward that is pending with Hamas and the real question right now is to Hamas right right it is Hamas that has this proposal in front of them and Hamas that is the decision maker right now about whether it can go forward or not now that said we have been quite clear that we will continue to make uh uh uh speak to the Israeli public speak to the Israeli government about why this deal is in their interests um and why should we get a deal moving from phase one to phase two is in their interests and why further integration with their neighbors uh is in their interest but let' be clear the roadblock right now to a ceasefire is not Israel the roadblock to a ceasefire is Hamas point but you know we know that communication with Hamas especially in Gaza is very tenuous it's very difficult it's not that easy uh so that may take time so it could be just an issue of time they may agree and so on so if they do that's it there's no backing down Israel will have to sort of abide by this ifos agrees to this proposal we fully expect it to be Implement one one a couple of last points that allow me on the West Bank I really want to ask because you know what what we have seen is a situation that is really deteriorating in the West Bank we see towns like T for instance were being it's being almost besieged the land is taken they they they erect steel doors and so on and all these things and I wonder what is your position on all this can is this reversible is this something that you could uh sort of pressure the Israelis to so of pull back from so the violence that we have seen in the West Bank is unacceptable it must stop civilians are never never legitimate targets of violence they must be protected um we urge Israel to do everything in its power to prevent these attacks in the first place and when they're not prevented to hold those responsible accountable we urge them to work with the Palestinian Authority to that end and we have also made clear that we are willing to take our own actions to hold people accountable you've seen us impose uh visa restrictions and economic sanctions on individuals and entities who perpetrate or support violence in the West Bank and we will not hesitate to continue to do so and finally uh Samantha power the Israeli I mean I'm sorry the Samantha power said that Israel is the chief impediment to Gaza Aid how do you assess what she said so I I won't speak to her comments let my us Aid colleagues um speak to them I think if you look at her the full substance she was speaking to the conflict ongoing being the chief impediment to getting Aid in and that is that is manifestly the case you can get Aid even when you get can get Aid to Kum Shalom if it's often difficult to get it distributed inside Gaza because people are moving to new places and there's ongoing conflict that's been a challenge um throughout that we will continue to work through but two things with uh in that regard number one um so there were just officials from the US government who met in Cairo yesterday um uh with uh officials from uh Egypt and from Israel to try to work on a solution to reopen uh Rafa gate there were constructive discussions uh professional um and we'll continue to pursue them in the coming days because we want to see Rafa open because that would be another gate to allow humanitarian assistance in and then second back to the bigger point if we could get a ceasefire if AAS would agree to this ceasefire proposal we could uh get 600 trucks a day coming in and not just coming in but it would be much much easier for them to move safely around Gaza and get humanitarian Aid in the hands of the people that we need who need it not thank you Matt um prime minister Netanyahu said neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will play a role in the day after uh in Gaza do you agree that the Palestinian Authority should be excluded from playing any role no we do not we've might made quite clear we see a role for the Palestinian Authority in the governance of Gaza after this conflict so do you see this is a point of that might be not acceptable for Israel in terms of this proposal that the president put forward uh so when it comes to all of those issues about who would govern Gaza at the end of this conflict I'll say two things one it is something that we have been as you know well um uh discussing with Arab Partners in the region it's been a a good subject of the work that we have done and as well as the work that we have done to encourage the Palestinian Authority to take steps to reform itself so not just Israelis could have faith in the Palestinian Authority but so the Palestinian people could have faith in the Palestinian Authority uh uh governing as a non-corrupt faithful actor in the interest of the of the Palestinian people so that's the first thing I would say the second thing is I would say is is that we are going to continue to engage with the Israeli government about this and there are diversity of views inside the Israeli government about the palestin authority and the the role that they ought to play and the future that they ought to play in governance in in Gaza and we're going to continue to make clear to them that we think a revitalized reformed fully functional Palestinian Authority is in the best interest of the Palestinian people it's in the best interest of Israel and it's it's especially in the best interest of Israel's security okay I want to have another go at the previous questions on Hamas um you know the president said that hamas's capabilities have been degraded to the degree that they don't pose a threat equivalent to the October 7 um would you entertain or accept some kind of political presence for Hamas or do you think that is going to be a situation analogous to the deification that we have seen in Iraq after the war which is deham isation if I don't know if the term applies but basically that nobody will be allowed to take part in any kind of shape or form uh of a civil authority of you know local Authority whatever we're not talking about a de Brigade so I'm not going to get into any level of detail um because we're just not that at that point in the process but I will say at a high level it is the strongly held view of the United States that we will continue to push that Hamas can play no role in the governance of Gaza it has lost any legitimate claim it ever had and we didn't think it had one to begin with but has lost any legitimate claim to participate in the governance of Gaza by virtue of launching a brutal Massacre of 1,00 Israelis uh uh on October 7th and finally um Saudis and Cates has condemned an Israeli uh kesit attempt or Rebel actually uh to label Andra as a terrorist organization do you condemn this attempt by the Israeli kesit to do that so I am not I was not aware of that vote um obviously we did not believe unra is a terrorist organization we um there were uh members of unra who uh uh under provided evidence had participated some in some way in the attacks of October 7th but that is not the but hold but that is not that is not actions by unra the body itself so that's our general position but I can't speak to the specific vote I'm not I'm not familiar with the I want you to um clarify this Andra has provided evidence that some members were F well so I I should say provide they briefed us on evidence that they found yeah at the beginning of this um I've gone through this a few times at the beginning of this entire issue with regard to unra um a lot of people think it was we took the action that we took to suspend unr's funding because of something the Israeli government told us and that's not the case it was unra that came to us and said they were aware of these allegations they had looked into them found evidence that certain members of unra had participated in the attacks of October 7th and so had suspended and fired for 13 14 I remember the exact number now and that's why we took the action we did and you can update us on the investigation because being what a few months now I can't because it's not a US Government investigation it's a United Nations investigation I would refer you to them to speak to that Matt could I could I have a clarification on your engagement with the PA are you engaged with the with Palestinian Authority right now yeah we have conversations with the where are the whereabouts of Mr had Amber for instance is he engaged uh he has been he travels back and forth between here and the region quite regularly I don't know if he's here or in the region today but um yeah he's he engages regularly with the Palestinian Authority as do um officials in our Embassy in Jerusalem um stay in the region more yeah yeah go ahead Matt did you hear back from the Israeli regarding the investigation on the strike in uh last weekend we have not we we have not I I number one I don't know if the investigation has concluded but in any event we haven't been briefed uh at this point and on this uh proposed deal uh the President also the secretary re in his call with the guns he mentioned that this proposed deal will unlock u a calm on the Northern borders do you have something substantial did you is there a progress made here with hasah so we have had ongoing conversations for some time to try to reach a political solution to the crossb strikes between Israel and Hezbollah and we have made progress uh in those conversations But ultimately it is our assessment that it's very difficult to reach uh solution to that problem without common Gaza ultimately all of these problems are interconnected and as long as there is intense fighting in Gaza it's very difficult to reach a solution uh in the north and it that intense fighting also poses other security challenges for Israel and so we do believe that um should we get a ceasefire in Gaza especially we can make that a durable ceasefire that ends the war that that is a challenge that we can resolve thank you yeah did you discuss such deal or diplomatic resolution for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah with Hezbollah and Iran uh so I'm not going to get into any conversations we don't have Direct Communications with Hezbollah obviously but we have been pursuing diplomatic um a diplomatic resolution to this issue for some time and one more on Iran uh Iran acting foreign minister said today that the process of negotiations between us and Iran are currently underway and exchange of messages and consultations continue can you confirm that I I uh cannot I will just say that we have always made clear we have the ability to uh get messages to Iran when it is our interest to do so but I'm not going to confirm or read out any specific conversations did you mean that his statement is not accurate No I mean exactly what I said go ahead thank you just question on on the framework that's currently on the table can you say if it's the US expectation that during phase 2 and three of the deal if it's implemented if Israel would still be able to carry out um specific targeted military strikes should a threat imminent from within Gaza so I don't want to speak to I don't want to speak to that in terms of tying it to phase two and phase three because those are things that are going to have to be negotiated and the exact um the exact parameters of that negotiation we're not we don't have a deal for phase one yet so I should refrain from commenting on that but the president made clear we will always back Israel's right to defend itself and that remains true all right go ahead Janny thank you I will follow up again on the last North Korean garbage balloon cion last time China sent spy balloons to the United States but North Korea sent over thousands garbage balloons to South Korea over the past few days these garbage balloons contain all kinds of unsanitary germs there could also be a damage to US troops in stationed in South Korea what measures do you think the US in South Korea to take in this regard so uh I will just say that uh it's obviously quite a disgusting ta tactic um irresponsible childish and it should come to an end I'll leave it at that so you're not condemning uh of course I condemn it okay do you any country that sends trash to its neighbor floats trash over in a balloon to its neighbors yeah yeah a if it is an agreement between two countries that is that is a very different thing yeah do you think that yeah one more do you think this is a violation of the UN Security Council uh I would have to consult with people here whether um trash carrying balloons uh uh I'm not trying to be flippant I just have to consult with some people here about whether that's the case also do you think this action has anything to do with China China involved the the the trash balloons do I have not seen any assessment that it does no all right thank you yeah go ahead Al thank you m um very quick on Ukraine Dev to Georgia um the secretary intended to accompany the Vice President in Switzerland uh you know at the summit I I don't have any scheduling announcements to make with that P Summit I you heard the secretary say a number of times over the past few weeks you heard us say that um we would be well represented at that Summit and uh uh that's clearly saw that today with the announcement that the vice president will be attending right and president zki called out China for sabotaging that event do you share his concerns um so I will just say that when it comes to the peace Summit I'm going to speak for the United States that we support the peace Summit um we want it to be successful and that's why you see uh the vice president of the United States attending that Summit we support uh Ukraine's diplomatic efforts that said we have always been clear that China could play a useful diplomatic role in helping resolve this conflict if it wanted to um but that said right now it's hard to see how they could play that role given the actions that we've seen t uh China take over recent months to uh rebuild reconstitute Russia's uh defense industrial base so we're going to continue to make clear to China that we object to those actions that we will hold entities responsible for those actions and uh we've heard our our Russian sorry our um European counterparts uh say the same thing thank you let's head to Georgia if I may where the Kremlin inspired draft already became the law of the land the speaker who signed it today was quoted as saying that the Western foundations are quoting him are financing organizations that are financing Terror violence Etc um there are other officials are talking about you know clearly shutting down this is civil side organizations clear departure from what they told us intentional the original intention was uh moving forward how do you expect them to apply the law so I'm not going to speak to that I will say we have been quite concerned about exactly the point you raised which is that this uh law moves Georgia away from its Democratic trajectory and could stigmatize civil society and stifle the freedoms of of Association uh and expression and that the actions fundamentally alter the US relationship with Georgia and so that's why we have launched a review of our relationship and we'll consider uh our response to the actions that the government of Georgia has taken on that point the mayor of toiss is quot saying that we have quote unquote done nothing to be sanctioned is he mistaken uh um we have announced a new sanctions policy we have not yet announced individual sanctions and I'll leave it at that but we but we have made clear that we would not hesitate to um to impose them fair enough given what's at stake here why did the secretary make no mention of Georgia during his e European trip the secretary just put out a statement announcing an entire comprehensive review of our policy with respect to Georgia that could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance that we provide to Georgia um and as well announced a new Visa restriction policy that you should um fully expect to see the United States take action on I think I'll leave it at that his commitment to this is has been quite clear let me go ahead that was that was like three or four Sean go ahead go I'm sorry I thought you had your hand up uh getting back slightly to the Middle East but staying in Europe both I don't know how many times you get asked About Slovenia uh the um so the parliament is debating recognition of of a Palestinian State of the State of Palestine it's been put on hold by the opposition I know in the previous three his as European countries the reaction you had reaction coming up but as it's actually in process does the US want to tip the scales one way or another do you have a a position whether Slovenia should go ahead and recognize the Palestinian so look ultimately we see those steps as not helpful or productive at this time we have been quite clear that we support the establishment of an independent Palestinian State the secretary has been working on uh actual paths to get us there through diplomacy in the region but that ultimately that is a step that needs to come not through uh unilateral recognition but through direct negotiations between the two parties okay so in particular is it that that that comment applies to everyone can I just ask you briefly about two elections I asue statements on them already but two major countries Mexico and South Africa um I know that though there been same issue in both but particularly in the case of South Africa it seems the ANC for the first time since the end of a part is going to l a majority um the US has a relationship with South Africa but obviously there have been some ups and downs recently with regard to Russia with regard to um uh with regard to the uh the issues in the heg um does United States anticipate any changes to the relationship uh with South Africa coming out of this anything more to us is like in potentially so I'd say that we remain committed to deepening our cooperation uh uh with South Africa we cooperate with South Africa on a number of area a number of areas even places where we have differences there are other areas such as expanding economic Pro Prosperity fighting the climate crisis ensuring that democracy delivers where we work quite closely with uh South Africa and we would fully expect to do that with the new government and I do also want to take a note to um congratulate the South African people on successful National and political elections and um uh this won't maybe won't have resonance for everyone in the room for the younger crowd in the room but for some of us older folks this is now three decades of South Africans having the opportunity to exercise the fund FAL right to vote something that seemed um uh difficult and far beyond reach uh when I was a kid has been achieved and now has we have seen entrenched for three decades and it's I think important to highlight um that positive development sure contined positive development and on Mexico again I know there's a statement issued but uh with Amo there are quite a few um Arrangements on migration that have taken place is it the understanding that these will continue on with the the new Administration do you think do you anticipate any type of shake up in terms of the migration uh protocols with so I think we'll let the the new um president the president-elect take office before we start talking about specific policies but we do expect to continue our um close working relationship with the government of Mexico we value the special relationship we have with them and made committed to working together to advance our mutual economic and security interests Ryan so back in February the White House announced sanctions on people undermining peace security and stability in the West Bank I'm not sure if you saw but Senator Chris Van Holland just uh suggested that those sanctions ought to apply to smotrich who you mentioned earlier today as an obstacle to the peace deal uh is that something that the state department would consider so I'm never go I make this a rule never to make sanctions announcements or talk about what we're considering before we impose any in any um sanction and before anyone um reads anything into that comment you shouldn't read that one way or the other it's just our blanket rule and not talking about possible sanctions Qui quick Pakistan question I'm not sure if you saw uh Imran Khan was acquitted of his uh of his previous conviction on this the cipher case so the only case that he's currently jailed for is what's known as this unislim marriage charge so the the most popular politician in Pakistan is currently in jail uh because the Pakistani Court says that there were not enough menstral Cycles between his wife's divorce and his marriage so you talked earlier about uh the Georgia law and that that was undermining Georgian democracy you know why does the why is the state department willing to weigh in on a a law passed through the Georgian legislature but something insane like this that that's a matter for the Pakistani courts so I just don't have any further comment on the case we look at um when we look at different countries we take into to account uh appropriate context circumstances and making our judgments we've addressed the question of Imran Khan many times um the legal proceedings against him are something for the Pakistani courts to uh decide in concordance with their laws in Constitution but could that really be a matter for the Pakistani courts is could that possibly be the state Department's position it it it is our position that it when you come to these laws in Pakistan and this court case um it is something for the Pakistani courts to decide and you just saw to this question charges against him thrown out by the courts so uh go ahead yeah thank you so much regarding the bilateral deal between United States Saudi Arabia and Israel that included uh defense deal between United States and Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia and Israel normalization we have seen that secretary blink in a senate hearing mentioned that United States and Saudi Arabia are very near to our defense deal it seems like us is uh prioritizing its defense deal with Saudi Arabia but not the ties with the Israel the basic effort that us LED from uh for the mediation between Saudi Arabia and Israel so uh with this with this uh testimony in the uh Senate hearing is it like understood that it will be a bilateral deal only with the defense deal between Saudi Arabia and United States and the normalization between isra and Saudi Arabia is sidelined no the um Arrangement that we have contemplated that we have been working on is a uh agreement um that encompasses three parties the United States Saudi Arabia and Israel there are bilateral pieces between the United States and Saudi Arabia that would be part of that deal and that's what we have been working on and then there are other components that are um uh that ultimately involve a path towards a Palestinian state but I will just say as all of uh as part of all this you've heard the secretary say this before there two there's one thing that has to happen two two things one I just refer to the the path to a Palestinian state but the other thing that has to happen before any such Arrangement can go forward is Colman Gaza we don't have col and Gaza today we're trying to get to col and Gaza through this ceasefire proposal and you heard the president president speak to normalization of Saudi Arabia being one of the benefits that It ultimately could unlock then secondly uh from the second time in 21 years United States um uh allowed a jailed Pakistani lady who is facing 86 years of like sentence in the Texas jail with the allegations of alleged attacks on US troops in Afghanistan that is Dr AIA sidiki so a former Pakistani caretaker government official in a private conversation and told he revealed that us and Pakistan were very closed for a deal a possible deal between United State and Pakistan that might be a uh swap deal basically so you have uh any information on that or is there something behind us and Pakistan or considering that um so let me take the question I'm just not familiar with the the full details of the the case that you mentioned go ahead thank you question today turkey interior Ministry they REM a recent elect Pro Kurdish party mayor of hakari and replaced him with a trustee do you have any reaction and comment on that so the our position on the Kurdistan Workers Party as well known it hasn't changed um the pkk was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Department of State in 1997 and regarding the specific case you mentioned I would um refer you to the government turkey for com and did you say that he was linked with the Pika I'm sorry what was that do you say that he was linked with the p I'm just speaking to our assessment of the p and what what what's your assessment on that case uh as I said I don't have any specific comment on it and what's your approach to the Kurdish issue in Turkey it's been long time Kurdish issue in Turkey what's the US approach on uh we have made made clear our long-standing position on that many times they don't have anything to add today go ahead here and we're going have to wrap for today um uh you said that uh you would hope that the Israeli law enforcement would would follow through in uh curtailing violence from settlers in the West Bank uh however on Thursday last last Thursday the Israeli military raided a vegetable market in ramala in ALA to be specific but the one of the largest uh vegetable markets in the West Bank and uh which lit on fire and uh uh who who is who is going to hold Israel accountable in the Israeli military in this sense which which law enforcement Authority should so a few things first I can't speak to that specific raid um obviously Israel has the right to conduct legitimate anti-terrorism activities in the West Bank we have seen them do so but those need to be legitimate they need to comply with their National humanitarian law um uh but as regards this particular incident I can't speak to it at all but that said when it comes to holding people accountable we have seen the Israeli government take some actions to police settler violence in the West Bank we've seen them make arrests we've seen them hold people accountable but in our assessment hasn't been enough and so that's why was settler but I I know that's why I'm separating out out the two um I can't because I can't speak to this one without knowing the details but when it comes to what I was speaking to settler violence um they need to do more and if they don't we will that clear and that we'll wrap for today thanks everyone

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Length: 49min 43sec (2983 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 03 2024