US top diplomat wishes so many people hadn't died in Gaza

At his final press conference on Thursday as secretary of state, Antony Blinken told reporters he wished the Gaza ceasefire deal could have been secured sooner but made no mention of how the incoming Trump administration pushed Israel in a way that President Joe Biden chose not to, or was unable to. 

"Do I wish we could have gotten the ceasefire agreement months ago? Of course, the suffering, the lives lost since could have been could have been avoided if we had gotten this over the line sooner," he told reporters.

The process was "complex," he added. 

 "Every one of those days of setback and struggle is necessary to get you to the day of success."