Journalist forcibly removed from Blinken’s last news conference - VIDEO

Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday defended Biden administration policies on Israel’s war with Hamas after a ceasefire agreement in Gaza was reached, facing protests that interrupted his final news conference at the State Department.

He said he expected the deal — announced by President Joe Biden and Qatar on Wednesday — to be implemented over the weekend. He called it “a moment of historic possibility for the region and well beyond” even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a last-minute dispute with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval, News.Az reports, citing AP.

“It’s going to take tremendous effort, political courage, compromise to realize that possibility, to try to ensure that the gains that have been achieved over the past 15 months at enormous, excruciating cost are actually enduring,” Blinken said.

As he touted the deal, two people in the room accused him of complicity in Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians in loud outbursts that forced him to pause. One shouted, “Why aren’t you in the Hague?” referring to the International Criminal Court based in the Dutch city, and the other called him “a monster.”

Blinken asked them to “respect the process.” Both men were physically removed by Diplomatic Security officers.

Newsweek reports that one of the men has been identified as Sam Husseini. He is a Jordanian-Palestinian writer and the communications director at the Institute for Public Accuracy. Husseini has reposted various videos "holding Blinken and this administration accountable" to his account on X, formerly Twitter.

News.Az