Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel has accepted the US-backed proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and also called upon Hamas to do the same. He, however, did not say whether it had addressed the concerns raised by the militant group. His remarks came on Monday (August 19) after holding a two-and-half hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken did not clarify whether the “bridging proposal” addressed Israel’s demands for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which according to Hamas is a nonstarter among other pressing issues that have long bedeviled the negotiations.
Talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough, but the negotiations are expected to resume this week based on the US proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas. However, with the Palestinian Islamist group announcing a resumption of suicide bombing inside Israel after many years, and medics saying Israeli military strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, there are few signs of conciliation on the ground.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal,” Blinken told reporters. “The next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes.’”
Blinken had earlier said the time is now to conclude a Gaza cease-fire agreement that would return hostages held by Hamas and bring relief to Palestinian suffering after more than 10 months of devastating war in Gaza.
Blinken’s ninth mission to the Middle East since the conflict began came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was near. But Hamas has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the latest proposal, and Israel has said there were points on which it was unwilling to compromise.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said as he opened talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.
Making a veiled reference to Iran which has vowed to retaliate the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on its soil last month, he said, “It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process”. Notably, Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the killing of Haniyeh.
“And so we’re working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity,” Blinken added.