Blinken deletes tweet pushing for cease-fire with State Department-designated terrorist group Hamas
Hamas is the ruling party of the Gaza Strip and is responsible for an attack launched Saturday that has killed at least 900 people in Israel so far.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken deleted a post calling for Israel to come to a cease-fire with Hamas, which his agency has labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as hundreds were killed in what was the worst single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
"Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately," Blinken wrote on X, formerly Twitter, late Saturday evening.
Hamas, which the State Department designated as a foreign terrorist group in 1997, is the ruling party of the Gaza Strip and is responsible for an attack launched Saturday that has killed at least 900 people in Israel so far, including 11 U.S. citizens. Hamas claims to have more than 100 Israelis captive.
Blinken's post was deleted following outcry online.
"How these 'ceasefires' go: Israel ceases, they fire. Repeated “ceasefires” led to the most single day murders of Jews since the holocaust. Enough. No more ceasefires. Israel should finish the job without cowardly wavering from the U.S.," conservative commentator Katie Pavlich said on X.
"Utter cowardice. Would you have called for a cease fire after Pearl Harbor? Probably," commentator Ed Morrissey said.