Blinken Arrives in Israel to Press for Ceasefire as IDF Captures 358 Terrorists Hiding in Hospital

JERUSALEM, Israel – The U.S. is pushing for a United Nations vote Friday on its version of a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in Israel to apply pressure on the Jewish nation.

At the same time, House Speaker Mike Johnson says he'll invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress.

In his Middle East tour to promote a hostage deal, Blinken said. "There's a clear consensus around a number of shared priorities. First, the need for an immediate sustained ceasefire with the release of hostages."

New polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows most Palestinians are still on the side of Hamas.

Among Palestinians in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), 71 percent say Hamas made the right decision to launch the brutal attacks against Israel on October 7th, 94 percent think Israel has committed war crimes during the current war, while 91 percent do not believe Hamas committed war crimes.

In fact, more than nine out of 10 say Hamas did not commit the atrocities seen in the October 7th videos.

Yet among Palestinians who have seen those videos, 17 percent believe Hamas fighters committed atrocities against civilians.

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As the fighting continues on the ground in Gaza, Israel says the huge Shifa Hospital has become a major hideout for terrorists.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli Army Spokesman, explained, "Many Hamas terrorists, operatives and senior ones, have been hiding in the hospital and also Islamic Jihad group has been hiding in this hospital." 

Israeli forces have arrested 650 terrorists in the fighting at the hospital this week, including what it calls "very significant" Hamas officers; and the forces did that while harming no civilians, even those working in the hospital.

"Civilians, doctors, medic teams, none has been hurt," Hagari confirmed.

Meanwhile, the secretary of state, arriving in Israel today, asserts the U.S. does not support an invasion of Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas battalions in Gaza.

"A major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we don't support, and it's also not necessary to deal with Hamas, which is necessary," Blinken said. "We're going to have an opportunity next week to share in detail that view with our Israeli counterparts and to lay out our views on how to deal with the problem differently."

Marking a clear division between Washington and Jerusalem, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer claims that Israel will go into Rafah, no matter who opposes it.

"Even if the entire world turns on Israel, including the United States, we're going to fight until the battle is won, because there's only one possible force that could stop Israel, and that's the Israeli people," Dermer said on the Call Me Back podcast with commentator and author Dan Senor.

Polling in Israel shows almost 80 percent of Israeli Jews support eliminating Hamas, no matter what it takes.

The Netanyahu coalition may have a wider platform to communicate what they believe is an existential threat from Hamas. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he's decided to invite Netanyahu to address the U.S. Congress, and that he's working with the prime minister's staff to coordinate schedules for a visit.

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