Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Israel had accepted a proposal from the Biden administration to resolve some of Hamas’s ongoing disagreements over a cease-fire agreement. He called it “probably the best, even the last, chance” to negotiate a ceasefire and release the victims who are still holding victims in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken made the declaration after a roughly three-hour meet with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem. He told me in a very positive gathering with Prime Minister Netanyahu that he agreed with the bridge plan and that he backed it, Blinken told investigators. ” It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same”.
The statement added strain to Hamas, whose authorities have called the plan “inherently slanted toward Israel,” despite the unreleased information.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas standard, claimed in a televised interview with Al Jazeera on Monday that Hamas had generally accepted the model for a cease-fire that President Joe Biden had outlined in a late May meeting. However, he claimed that Netanyahu had put new restrictions on that plan and that Israeli officers had made no concessions during a round of negotiations last week in Doha, Qatar.
” If the US administration was serious, we would n’t need more negotiations– only to implement Biden’s proposal”, Hamdan said.
Netanyahu’s business stated in a statement that the conference with Blinken had been “positive” and that the prime minister had “reiterated Israel’s devotion to the current British proposal on the transfer of our captives, which takes into account Israel’s protection needs, which he strongly insists on.”
But Netanyahu, in his own recorded notes, focused mainly on Iran and its allied armies.
He expressed his gratitude for the US’s efforts to defend the region from the Persian axis. ” This is important, of course, for the state of Israel”. He continued,” I likewise greatly appreciate the respect that the US has shown for our essential security interests as part of our joint initiatives to elude the transfer of our captives.”
Some Israeli officials personally questioned whether the US plan may lead to a milestone with Hamas despite the cheerful tone.
After two days of high-level discussions in Qatar that ended on Friday without an instant discovery, negotiations intended to conclude a offer were scheduled to begin in Egypt this month. The United States provided the bridge proposal during the last week’s discussions to end some of Hamas and Israel’s standing rifts and prevent a wider geographical conflict with Egypt and Qatar.
Blinken called it” a significant time” in the monthslong force for a cease-fire in Gaza.
The deals have taken on added importance since an blast on July 31 in Tehran, commonly attributed to Israel, killed Hamas ‘ democratic leader, Ismail Haniyeh, after he attended the opening of Iran’s fresh senator. Days earlier, an Israeli attack in the southern cities of Beirut killed Fouad Shukur, a senior captain of Hezbollah, a prominent Palestinian military that, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.
Israel has stated that it will vigorously respond to any attack on its territory, and Iran and Hezbollah have pledged to retaliate for the killings, raising the possibility of a regional conflict that is raging.
Blinken and other mediators have not adequately described the bridging proposal’s terms. However, US officials claim that it adheres to the UN Security Council’s approval of a cease-fire plan that Biden outlined on May 31.
In exchange for Palestinian prisoners stationed in Israel under that three-phase plan, Hamas and its allies would release the last hostages in Gaza. The agreement would ultimately cause the “cessation of hostilities permanently” and the reconstruction of Gaza.
How Israel and Hamas would resolve their lingering disagreements remained to be seen. Netanyahu has vowed to have Israeli troops patrol the Gaza side of the territory’s border with Egypt, among other points of contention, to stop Hamas from rearming during a cease-fire. Hassan said it will not consent to any deal that does n’t require Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas did not directly participate in the cease-fire talks last week in Qatar and has expressed deep resentment toward the outcome of the talks. The group stated on Sunday that it had been informed of the mediations ‘ progress and that it had “once more come to the conclusion that Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement and is imposing new demands and demands in an effort to undermine the mediators ‘ efforts and prolonging the war.”
Blinken acknowledged on Monday that the deal was still pending. He said,” The next important step is for Hamas to say yes, and then in the coming days, for all of the expert negotiators to get together” to work on ways to carry out the agreement.
” These are still complex issues, and they’re going to require hard decisions by the leaders”, Blinken added. ” Ultimately, it comes down to those decisions. However, I believe there is a real urgency here in the entire region regarding the need to move this past the finish line and to do it as soon as possible.
Blinken also met with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and its defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as with relatives of the hostages in Gaza. The families have been pressing Netanyahu to agree to a resolution that would free those abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
After its members met with Blinken, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement that” we continue to press all parties involved to sign an agreement as soon as possible.” ” We cannot afford to waste this critical opportunity, which may be the last opportunity, time is running out for the hostages”.
Blinken gave Tehran and Hezbollah an indirect warning as diplomats hoped a cease-fire in Gaza, or even the possibility of one, might sway Iran to stop its planned attack on Israel.
” It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process”, he said. And so we’re working to prevent any escalation, prevent any provocations, and prevent any actions that could, for the most part, prevent us from moving this deal over the line, or even stop the conflict from escalating to other locations and intensities.
Hostilities between Israel and Hamas, meanwhile, have continued.
Islamic Jihad and Hamas ‘ military wing took responsibility for what they claimed was a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, according to the Hamas military wing. A “powerful explosive” had exploded on a road in southern Tel Aviv, according to the Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency. One passerby was injured, they said.
On Sunday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian journalist, Ibrahim Muhareb, bringing the total number of Palestinian journalists and news media workers killed since Oct. 7 to at least 123, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
The Palestinian Journalists ‘ Syndicate claimed that Muhareb and a group of his colleagues were struck by Israeli tank fire while they were posing with press gear near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
A request for comment was not immediately received by the Israeli military.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, at least 25 people have been killed by Israeli fire in central and southern Gaza since Sunday. According to the Israeli military, dozens of “terrorists” were killed in Gaza, and facilities and infrastructure were damaged by militants, according to the military’s statement on Monday.
