U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a U.S. “brokering offer” for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Secretary Blinken added that Hamas must now reach an agreement.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the two men met in Tel Aviv in discussions that he described as “positive,” adding that his office reaffirmed his willingness to accept US proposals to release the hostages still held by Hamas, given Israel’s security needs.
Secretary Blinken had previously warned that this could be the “last chance” to strike a ceasefire agreement as the United States seeks to finalize negotiations.
Americans want it to happen Maybe by this time next week, but neither the Israeli leadership nor Hamas share that level of optimism.
Each accuses the other of stubborn cynicism and of sabotaging the deal.
Speaking in Tel Aviv after the meeting, Secretary Blinken described progress toward a ceasefire and hostage release negotiations as “very urgent.”
“We will never give up,” he said, adding that any further delay could lead to more hostages being killed and more obstacles preventing an agreement from being reached.
The U.S. Secretary of State will now travel to Egypt and then Qatar to try to make progress in negotiations.
Netanyahu reportedly told Secretary Blinken he plans to send a delegation to Cairo later this week for new talks with Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators.
Meanwhile, reports are coming out that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is worsening as Israeli military operations continue.
Israel says its aircraft and troops have “killed dozens of terrorists” in the past day and destroyed Hamas facilities and a network of tunnels where rockets and missiles were found.
Palestinian media reported on Monday that six people were killed when Israeli airstrikes struck an internet access point near the southern city of Khan Yunis, while four were killed in a vehicle strike in the northern city of Gaza City.
The Israeli military launched an operation to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7 in response to an unprecedented attack in southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages.
More than 40,130 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip Health Ministry.
In a deal reached in November, Hamas released 105 hostages during a weeklong ceasefire in exchange for the release of about 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Israel says 111 hostages are still being held, 39 of whom are believed to be dead.
Secretary Blinken visited Israel on Monday for a series of meetings with key Israeli leaders.
After a meeting with Defense Secretary Yoav Galland, a large crowd of protesters gathered outside could be heard chanting, “SOS USA, negotiate with the hostages now” and “Blinken, we trust you. Bring them back.” Some held pictures of the hostages.
There was a clear sense of urgency in Secretary Blinken’s message.
“This is a defining moment, perhaps the best, perhaps the last opportunity, to get the hostages home, to achieve a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to lasting peace and security,” he said before meeting with President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.
“I am here as part of a focused diplomatic effort to see this deal through to the end, and ultimately to the end, at the direction of President Biden,” he added. “It is time for everyone to say ‘yes’ and not find excuses to say ‘no.’”
President Herzog, speaking alongside him, condemned Hamas’ refusal to continue negotiations.
Secretary Blinken met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem for three hours, which the prime minister’s office described as “positive and well-organized.”
“The Prime Minister reiterated and strongly insisted on Israel’s commitment to the current US proposal for the release of our hostages, taking into account Israel’s security needs,” the brief statement added.
On Sunday, the prime minister accused Hamas of being “utterly stubborn” and said Israel, the United States and other countries must “put pressure” on the group, which they label a terrorist organization.
A Qatari-based member of Hamas’ political bureau told the BBC on Monday that the group would not participate in the Cairo meeting but was still interested in reaching a deal.
“We agreed to a deal [through mediators] “On July 2… Therefore, we do not need a new round of negotiations and we do not need to discuss new demands of Benjamin Netanyahu,” Bassem Naim said.
“We showed maximum flexibility and positivity, and the other side saw this as a weakness and responded with greater force. He is not interested in a ceasefire, he is only interested in burning the region… and he is working for his own personal political interests.”
The United States is hopeful that it will be able to bridge the gap in the ceasefire agreement in the coming days.
But that deadline is being imposed by Washington, not the warring parties, and the Israeli prime minister and Hamas leaders don’t seem to feel the same sense of urgency.
The statement they made last night was very challenging, they stood their ground and argued strongly.
Secretary Blinken flies from Israel to Egypt on Tuesday, where he has served as a key mediator with Qatar and could deliver a direct message to Hamas.
The mediators announced last Friday that they had put forward a “proposal to bridge the gap between the parties,” which they said was consistent with the principles laid out by President Joe Biden on May 31. The proposal involves three steps.
• The first involves a “complete and total ceasefire” lasting six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all manned areas of the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of some hostages, including women, the elderly, the sick or the wounded, with Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
• The second phase includes the release of all other living hostages and a “permanent cessation of hostilities.”
• The third would mean the start of a large-scale reconstruction plan in the Gaza Strip and the return of the remains of dead hostages.
The United States has not provided details of the proposed link, but there are reportedly still major disagreements over issues such as the continued presence of Israeli troops in Gaza, the right of displaced Palestinians to move freely from north to south, and the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners who would be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for Israeli hostages.
Brett McGurk, one of the Biden administration’s key regional envoys, has been working with Egypt for the past several weeks to try to resolve the thorny issue of the Philadelphia Corridor, a strip of land along the Egyptian-Gaza border.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel insisted it would stay there to stop smuggling and Hamas’ rearmament. Hamas says that simply means continued Israeli occupation and therefore does not stop the war.
