Blinken says humanitarian pauses could help get hostages out

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that a humanitarian ceasefire could help rescue hostages being held by Hamas.

"We are absolutely focused on getting hostages back and getting them back to their families in safety," Blinken said at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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He continued, "And we believe that, among other things, a humanitarian pause could help that effort, could facilitate it. It's one of the reasons why we're focused on it."

Prompted by a reporter's question, Blinken said the US faces the challenge of not only eradicating Hamas's infrastructure, but also the ideology that propels the terrorist group.

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"This is about dealing with Hamas in terms of defeating it physically. That is making sure that it can't repeat what it did on October 7th," Blinken said. "But it is also about defeating an idea — a perverted idea, but an idea that we have to combat with a better idea with better future, with a better vision for what that future can be."