Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog during his visit to Israel's capital Tel Aviv.
According to a written statement released by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Blinken first met with Netanyahu and then met with Israel's "War Cabinet".
During the meeting, Netanyahu showed Blinken videos of Hamas attacks.
Herzog and Blinken meeting
Blinken and Herzog also made statements to journalists before their meeting.
Herzog claimed that Israel complied with international and humanitarian law in its attacks on Gaza and said: "We distributed the brochures you see in my hand to the people of Gaza. We sent 6 million text messages and made 4 million phone calls. We informed the people of Gaza in advance (about our attacks) in accordance with international law. This is what we did in Jibaliya Camp."
Herzog said that they carried out their attacks on Gaza within the framework of their right to "self-defense" and claimed that they did everything they could to protect civilians.
"Support for Israel" message from Blinken
Blinken said, "These are difficult times, we are here, as always, and we will continue to stand in solidarity with Israel. Our position remains that Israel not only has the right but also the obligation to defend itself. Israel has the right to do everything to prevent October 7 from happening again."
Emphasizing that the protection of civilians is also important in Israel's actions, Blinken stated that they are determined to fight Hamas.
Blinken stated that they will continue to work with determination for the release of prisoners held by Hamas.
