Dear A.,

Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel today for meetings with hostage families and senior Israeli officials. It was his fourth visit to the Jewish state since the October 7 massacre.

When pressed by a journalist about calling for a ceasefire, Blinken reaffirmed that "Hamas could have ended this on October 8th by not hiding behind civilians, by putting down its weapons, by surrendering, and by releasing the hostages. None of the suffering would have happened if Hamas hadn't done what it did on October 7."

"It’s vital that Israel achieve its very legitimate objectives of ensuring that October 7 can never happen again," Blinken added.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, White House spokesperson John Kirby doubled down on the administration’s stance that a ceasefire now will only benefit the terrorists.

"We don’t support a ceasefire at this time. And there’s no change to that, because we don’t believe it benefits anybody but Hamas right now," Kirby said.

Today the IDF continued pushing deeper into the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis, destroying Hamas terror infrastructure and fighting Hamas terrorists who are using civilian buildings and tunnels as bunkers and hideouts.

Israeli soldiers uncovered dozens of weapons caches, including about 100 mortar bombs, ready-to-use explosives, grenades and combat equipment inside classrooms at the Islamic University in Khan Yunis. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant emphasized that IDF operations in Khan Yunis "will intensify and continue until Hamas leadership is detected, and Israeli hostages return home safely."

IDF eliminates senior Hezbollah drone commander

Meanwhile, the IDF continues to respond to increased attacks from the north, where Hezbollah has launched rockets, missiles, and explosive attack drones at strategic sites in Israel. Today the IDF targeted and killed a senior Hezbollah commander who was responsible for the Iran-backed terror group’s drone program in southern Lebanon. Before the strike, the IDF destroyed a Hezbollah cell as it was preparing to launch more explosive-laden drones into Israel.

Fetterman to 'ceasefire now' squad: Call for Hamas to surrender

Today in Pennsylvania, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) made a strong statement to “anyone that believes in a ceasefire."

"Let’s call for Hamas to surrender and put down their guns, and then that would end all of the misery and killing and everything," he said. "I believe to be on the right side for Israel on this, and I believe that we will never have peace or a stable two-state solution unless we destroy Hamas." Watch and share the video here.