Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was wrong to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and should instead tell Israel to “get the job done.”
“We need to be clear and say, get the job done,” Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday” Sunday morning.
Secretary Pompeo's comments came in the wake of news that an Israeli airstrike killed several senior members of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The group's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed, and on Sunday the IDF confirmed that it had killed Nabil Kaouk, a preventive security commander.
Airstrikes and rising tensions in the region have raised fears of an all-out war nearly a year after the start of the Israel-Hamas war and with no clear ceasefire agreement in sight.
Pompeo, who was in the Trump administration, claimed that if Israel and Hamas had agreed to an earlier ceasefire agreement drafted by the Biden administration, Nasrallah and other Hezbollah leaders “would be alive today.” did.
“Make no mistake about it. We know history. We know history from 1967, we know history from 1973,” Pompeo said. “The only thing that will protect Israel and make the Middle East more prosperous and peaceful is to demonstrate power and impose costs on Israel’s adversaries.”
President Biden issued a statement calling Nasrallah's death a “step of justice,” saying he was responsible for a 40-year “reign of terror” that killed hundreds of Americans. .
“This is a regional challenge, this is a global challenge, and it’s important to note that the U.S. is calling on Israel to cancel the mission, even though the task at hand to complete the mission is a mistake and only creates the risk of further escalation.” Secretary Pompeo said.
