U.S. staff member urges immediate end to Gaza fighting, outlines Syria and Lebanon priorities

An unnamed staff member for the U.S. delegation, speaking during opening remarks at a meeting with international partners, said the United States wants an immediate end to fighting in Gaza and the release of every hostage and outlined U.S. goals for stability in Syria and Lebanon.

The staff member said, “We want it to end immediately,” and added, “We want it to end with every single hostage being released, both living and deceased.” They said the U.S. aims for “a Gaza that is free of terrorism, that is free of extremism, that does not pose a threat to Israel or any other part of the region, and where the people the Palestinian people, the people of Gaza have an opportunity to live in the peace and in the prosperity that we all want.”

The staff member framed those comments as part of broader U.S. engagement in the region, noting recent diplomacy in Riyadh and saying the United States is “very committed to this partnership as a whole and with each of the countries that are represented here today.” They said “very important work is ongoing even as we speak” to try to achieve an end to the Gaza conflict.

On Syria, the staff member said there is “an opportunity” to support a “strong unified state” in which diversity is respected and which does not serve as a base for extremists or foreign actors to launch attacks. They described the United States as committed to “give Syria every chance possible to build a... strong unified state.”

Addressing Lebanon, the staff member said the United States supports “a strong Lebanese state respectful of the diversity of that country, free of the influence of Iran and Hezbollah and others who might undermine that stability,” and added the country must be able to “exert its sovereignty” and emerge from a long-standing economic crisis.

The remarks included criticism of Iran’s leadership, while distinguishing Iranian culture from its government. The staff member said the United States “strongly views” what it sees as destabilizing activities by Iran and repeated a U.S. policy line that the country should not possess weapons of mass destruction: “we cannot allow the world's leading sponsor of terrorism to ever possess weapons of mass destruction like a nuclear weapon.”

The comments were presented as opening remarks and did not record any formal votes, motions, or binding decisions by the meeting’s participants. The speaker described ongoing diplomatic efforts and opportunities and framed the U.S. stance as committed to work “in partnership with every country represented here today.”

The meeting then proceeded to the agenda; no formal actions tied to the remarks on Gaza, Syria or Lebanon were recorded in the transcript provided.