Antony Blinken, a top US diplomat, was in Egypt on Tuesday for negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire after Israel accepted a US “bridging proposal” for a compromise and urged Hamas to follow suit.
Blinken, on his eighth visit to the Middle East since the Palestinian terrorist group’s October 7 attack ignited the war with Israel, went to El Alamein, the Mediterranean city famous for a World War II battle. He met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer house.
Following that, he will meet with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha, where cease-fire talks were held last week.
Egypt and Qatar are cooperating with the US to mediate a cease-fire in the 10-month Gaza conflict.
Washington submitted the most recent plan last week, aimed at following the Doha negotiations.
Blinken stated on Monday that he had “a very constructive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal”.
Ahead of the discussions, Hamas urged the mediators to follow the framework laid out by US President Joe Biden in late May rather than hold additional negotiations.
On Sunday, the organization stated that the current US plan “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions”.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas political bureau member, stated over the weekend that US confidence over the deal’s prospects was a “illusion”.
On Monday, the US secretary of state had said: “This is a decisive moment — probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security”.
‘Sense of urgency’
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for delays in striking an agreement that officials say might help avert a larger Middle East conflict that may involve Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Fears of an escalation have grown since Hezbollah and Iran threatened to respond to an Israeli strike on Beirut last month that killed a prominent Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, soon before an Israeli-claimed attack in Tehran killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli army positions in the disputed Golan Heights, in the most recent of the cross-border clashes that have raged practically daily since the Gaza war began.
“There is, I think, a real sense of urgency here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon 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.
Biden said in his farewell speech to the convention that the protesters “have a point”, adding that “a lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides”.
He acknowledged Hamas objections to the latest draft. “It’s still in play, but you can’t predict,” he said as he prepared to leave Chicago.
“Israel says they can work it out… Hamas is now backing away.”
‘Permanent ceasefire’
Israeli military activities in Gaza have persisted during the truce discussions.
According to Gaza’s civil defense service, an Israeli strike killed seven persons at a school for displaced Palestinians. The Israeli military said it attacked a Hamas command center.
Medics reported six deaths from two separate Israeli air attacks in and near Rafah.
Western ally Jordan, hostage sympathizers who rallied in Tel Aviv during Blinken’s visit, and Hamas themselves have all urged Netanyahu to make an agreement.
Far-right members of the prime minister’s governing coalition are opposed to any truce.
The October 7 strike on southern Israel killed 1,198 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians, according to an AFP analysis of Israeli official data.
According to the Gaza health ministry, Israel’s retaliatory attack has killed at least 40,173 individuals, but does not specify civilian or terrorist casualties.
Out of the 251 captives taken during Hamas’ attack, 105 are still detained in Gaza, including 34 who the IDF claims are dead.
The Biden plan would halt combat for the first six weeks while Israeli captives are exchanged for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.
Netanyahu stated on Monday that negotiations hoped to “release a maximum number of living hostages” during the initial phase of any truce.
Bodies of six hostages recovered
In a combined operation with internal security agency Shin Bet, the Israeli military said it recovered the dead of six hostages from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Chaim Perry, who had already been declared dead, and Avraham Munder, whose kibbutz in Nir Oz near Gaza had reported his death earlier Tuesday.
The captives and Missing Families Forum urged the government to ensure that the remaining captives are returned to Israel in a negotiated deal.
“The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table,” it said.