Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the work to establish peace in the Middle East is "not over" when the fighting between Israel and Hamas ends.

Blinken said in a Sunday interview with CNN's State of the Union that Israel has to decide whether the nation's military campaign continues for months as opposed to days and weeks. However, the end goal is to have "durable, sustainable peace" between Palestinians and Israel.

NETWORKS ANNOUNCE DEBATES AS RNC LOSES FURTHER CONTROL OF GOP NOMINATING PROCESS

"When the major military operation is over. This is not over," Blinken said.

"We have to make sure that we're on the path to a durable and sustainable peace. From our perspective, I think from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a Palestinian state," the secretary continued. "We're not going to have durable security for Israel unless and until Palestinian political aspirations are met."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

He declined to say whether the United States would back the Jewish state as strongly as it does now should the conflict continue indefinitely, but he said it "has to get to the point where it is confident" that any Hamas attacks similar to the ones on Oct. 7 "can't be repeated."

"We have these discussions with Israel, including about the duration as well as how it's prosecuting this campaign against Hamas," Blinken said. "These are decisions for Israel to make, but Hamas has decisions to make too — it could get out from hiding behind civilians tomorrow, right? It could put down its arms tomorrow. It could surrender tomorrow, and this would be over."