QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, just following up on that, Hamas has issued a statement through Abu Obaida, and I know the huge caveat that it’s a terror group and one does not attach credibility to that, but they have said that all the hostages – the civilian hostages, which include the Americans – could be released, that this could be the start of something bigger if there are no airstrikes. Would this be a moment where if – under Israel’s discretion, obviously – it would be wise to pause, to give it more time, to see if this is a moment, since the ground invasion has not started – should even the airstrikes be stopped to see if you could get more people out?

And it was notable, without going into details, that in the President’s statement he said – he expressed his thanks to Israel – to Qatar, rather – in partnership with Israel, a notable connection there. The obvious inference is that they were working together on this. Does this give you hope that, despite everything that’s happened, that there could still be a broader relationship and avoid a wider war?

APARTHEID ANTONY: Thanks, Andrea. So two things there. First, it’s very simple. Hostages should be released immediately and unconditionally. That’s been our position from day one; it remains our position. And to your point, I would not take anything that Hamas says at face value. I’m not sure anyone in this room would take at face value or report something that ISIS had said – same applies to Hamas. Our position is clear: Every hostage needs to be released and needs to be released now.

There is no doubt from my own travels in the region that one of the important things throughout this very difficult period, and since the unconscionable attack by Hamas, is to continue to find ways for countries to cooperate, coordinate, when it’s in their interest to do so. And we’ll continue to look to that. Any cooperation that we can elicit that facilitates the release of hostages, any cooperation that we can elicit that secures the provision of humanitarian assistance to the men, women, and children in Gaza who so desperately need it, we work on that every day. And I think we can say that we’ve seen some of that cooperation.

The broader question, though, I think, is hugely important because what’s abundantly clear is the vast majority of countries, the vast majority of people, want the same thing. They want a region where countries are working together, where relations are normalized, where there’s greater integration, where people are working together, studying together, traveling, doing business. The overwhelming majority of people want that. And we want to see as well the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people fulfilled in the context of that kind of region.

And that’s one vision, and it remains very much alive in every conversation that I had. The alternative is equally clear, and it’s very stark: it’s Hamas, it’s Hizballah, it’s Iran, it’s destruction, it’s death, it’s terrorism, it’s darkness. So the more we are able to make real that first vision, the more I’m convinced that that’s the vision that everyone, or virtually everyone, will subscribe to.

So even as we are working through this challenge, this crisis, it’s important to keep that vision alive because it’s important that people know that there is an alternative, and that everything that they hope for and that they aspire to is going to be best addressed through what I’ve just described, that first vision. We’ll continue to do that.