Sweet and Spicy: what's the buzz on honey infusions? | SaltWireDOHA - U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken is telling Middle Eastern leaders there can be"no more business as usual" with Palestinian militant group Hamas, he said on Friday as he tours Arab states in the aftermath of Saturday's attacks in southern Israel.
Speaking to the media alongside Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani after their meeting, Blinken did not directly address a question of whether Washington was demanding that Qatar close a Hamas political office in Doha, but said in response that every country"needs to condemn" Hamas for its rampage through Israeli towns that killed 1,200 Israelis.
Sheikh Mohammed signaled that Qatar would not be closing the Hamas political office, saying it was"used as a way of communicating and delivering peace and calm to the region." Hamas, which controls the strip, told residents to stay put, and vowed to fight to the last drop of blood. By Friday afternoon there was no sign of any mass exodus as Israel prepared its onslaught.
Blinken, who told Netanyahu that Israel should follow the rules of war in its response, did not respond to a question during the news conference in Doha of whether the move had Washington's blessing.