Blinken says minimizing harm to Palestinians 'very much on the agenda' for Israel meetings
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is en route to Israel and Jordan, said this trip he's focused on de-escalation and the plight of the Palestinians.
"We will be talking about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize harm to men, women and children in Gaza," Blinken said.
"When I see a Palestinian child, a boy or a girl, pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building -- that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else. So this is something we have an obligation to respond to, and we will," he said.
The secretary identified three key goals for his trip.
"First, to talk to the Israeli government about the ongoing campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization," Blinken said. "Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself, and also to take steps to try to make sure that this never happens again. … We've also said very clearly and repeatedly that how Israel does this matters. We will focus as well on steps that need to be taken to protect civilians who are in a crossfire of the Hamas’ making, and we want to look at concrete steps that can be taken to better protect them."
Blinken said his second objective is getting humanitarian aid into Gaza and getting people who want to leave out of Gaza.
Blinken said his third goal is to try to set the groundwork for a resolution to the conflict.
The secretary added that the administration is still "intensely focused" on the hostages in Gaza and "taking every possible step that we can in concert with others to secure their release."
-ABC News' Shannon Crawford
