Asked about Israel crossing red lines, Blinken says country is 'traumatised'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday was asked if he regrets not being firmer on red lines as Israel carried out its war on Gaza, to which he responded that Israelis are "traumatised" and that containing the fighting to Gaza and not letting it spread across the region was a success for the Biden administration. 

"[The] policies that, in the case of Gaza, were basically supported by an overwhelming majority of Israelis after the trauma of October 7, this is a traumatised society, just as Palestinian society is getting traumatised by everything that's followed October 7," he said.

"If you don't understand that, or don't factor that in, it's really challenging to make progress," he added, not sidestepping the argument that Palestinians also have the right to defend themselves according to international law.

"We are now in a place where we're finally making good on [the president's] priorities... one of them is to avoid a broader war with more countries coming in. And at various moments, throughout these last 15 months, we've been right on the edge of having that wider reward, and because of American diplomacy, because of American deterrence, because of America's ability to mobilise others... we marshalled other countries to come to Israel's defence," Blinken told reporters.