Blinken calls on Hamas to accept US proposal on ending Gaza war
By Humeyra Pamuk and Nidal al-Mughrabi
TEL AVIV/CAIRO (Reuters) -Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to accept a U.S. bridging proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after what he said was a “very constructive” meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He had earlier said the latest push for a deal was probably the best and possibly last opportunity, urging both sides towards agreement.
Talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough, but the negotiations are expected to resume this week based on the U.S. 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 accepts the bridging proposal – that he supports it,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv.
“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators – the United States, Egypt and Qatar – have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement.”
Despite U.S. expressions of optimism and Netanyahu’s office describing the meeting as positive, both Israel and Hamas have signalled that any deal will be difficult.
Hamas accused Netanyahu on Sunday of “thwarting the mediators’ efforts” and Turkey said Hamas envoys had told it that U.S. officials were “painting an overly optimistic picture”.
Months of on-off talks have circled the same issues, with Israel saying the war can only end with the destruction of Hamas as a military and political force and Hamas saying it will only accept a permanent, and not a temporary, ceasefire.
There are disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, over the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory, and over the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swap.
The current war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 last year when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military campaign has since levelled swathes of Gaza, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people according to Palestinian health authorities.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo; Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Writing by Angus McDowall and Alison Williams; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Conor Humphries)
