Citing Hamas violations, Israel declared the end of the pause in the Israel-Gaza war, adding: “Upon the resumption of fighting… Israel is committed to achieving the goals of the war: Releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to the residents of Israel”. Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Hamas for having “reneged on commitments it made”, and noted that “we’re… very much focused, as we’ve been all along, on trying to make sure that this conflict doesn’t spread, that it doesn’t escalate in other places. But we’re also using our diplomacy to look at not only what’s happening today and how we’re handling that, but also what happens the day after in Gaza and how we can get on the path to a just, lasting and secure peace”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson accused Israel of violating the pause, asserting: “The political and legal responsibility for continuing the aggression and brutal killing of the Palestinian people, in addition to the criminals of the Zionist regime [ie, Israel], lies with the U.S. government and a few governments supporting the apartheid regime”.