U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Qatar as the world remains on high alert regarding Hamas's demand for a "Day of Rage" in support of Palestinians, Fox News reports.
Blinken spoke in Doha, Qatar, on Friday at a press conference with the country's prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
"No country can tolerate having a terrorist group come in, slaughter its people in the most unconscionable ways and live like that," Blinken said.
He added, "What Israel is doing is not retaliation, it is defending the lives of its people."
The state secretary reiterated the "importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians" but stressed that any nation "faced with what Israel has suffered would likely do the same."
Prior to his departure from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday, Blinken denounced the terrorism displayed by Hamas and reiterated America's plans to "ensure Israel gets everything it needs to defend itself and provide for the security of its people."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia late on Friday as he continued his regional tour in hopes of preventing the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants from spiraling into a bigger war, Al Arabiya News reports.
Before landing in Saudi Arabia, Blinken visited Bahrain after stops in Tel Aviv and Qatar. Blinken has expanded his trip from Israel and Jordan to include all of the Gulf Arab countries and Egypt, making it his largest tour of the region since taking office in January 2021.
