Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire. He had said Israel had accepted a US “bridging offer” for a settlement and urged Hamas to do the same.
Blinken, on his ninth trip to the Middle East since the October 7 attack by a Palestinian operative group, was to fly from Tel Aviv to El Alamein, a Mediterranean town famous for a World War II battle in 1942, where he was scheduled to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer palace.
He will then travel to Doha for a meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, where ceasefire talks were held last week.
Both Egypt and Qatar are working closely with the United States to bring about a ceasefire in the 10-month-long Gaza conflict.
Washington made the latest proposal following talks in Doha last week.
Blinken said on Monday he had a “very constructive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal”.
Ahead of these talks, Hamas called on mediators to implement the framework laid out by US President Joe Biden in late May, rather than engage in further negotiations.
The movement said on Sunday that the current US proposal “is a response to Netanyahu’s conditions” and makes him “fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts”.
Earlier on Monday, the US Secretary of State said: “This is a defining moment – the best, perhaps the last, chance to bring the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and put everyone on a better path to lasting peace and security.”
Months of talks with mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt have failed to reach an agreement.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the delay in reaching an agreement that diplomats say would help avert a wider conflict in the Middle East that could also involve Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“I think there’s a tremendous urgency across this region to get this to the end goal and get it done as quickly as possible,” Blinken said.
The Biden administration is under domestic pressure over Gaza, with pro-Palestinian protests taking place outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.
In his farewell speech at the convention, Biden said protesters were “right”, adding that “too many innocent people are dying” on both sides.
Permanent ceasefire
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the delay in reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas insisted on a “permanent ceasefire and comprehensive (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip”, saying Netanyahu wanted to keep Israeli troops in several strategic locations within the territory.
Western ally Jordan, hostage supporters who protested in Tel Aviv during Blinken’s visit, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Netanyahu to reach a deal.
Far-right members crucial to the prime minister’s ruling coalition oppose any ceasefire.
According to Israeli official figures, the October 7 attack on southern Israel killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians.
At least 40,139 people have been killed in Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, although the ministry did not give a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
Of the 251 hostages captured during the Hamas offensive, 111 are still in Gaza, 39 of whom the military says are dead.
Biden’s plan would see fighting halted for an initial six weeks while Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid would be delivered to Gaza.
Netanyahu said on Monday that negotiators’ goal was to “release the maximum number of live hostages” in the first phase of any ceasefire.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
