AgenPress – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has launched another round of high-stakes talks in Israel as the US seeks to increase pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, also trying to prevent an Israeli military offensive in Rafah and Israel to further avoid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The top US diplomat arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, after stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan , capping its seventh round of shuttle diplomacy in the region since the October 7 Hamas attack. He held a private meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and the two were later joined by Israeli and American officials, including the Israeli ambassador to the United States and the American ambassador to Israel.
“We are determined to get a ceasefire that brings the hostages home, and to get it now,” Blinken said during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, adding that “the only reason it won’t be achieved is because of Hamas”.
“We must also focus on the people suffering in Gaza,” he added, saying that attention must also be paid to “providing them with the assistance they need, the food, the water, the medicines, the shelter.”
Protesters gathered outside the location where Blinken and Herzog met in Tel Aviv, a live feed showed. The crowd held up posters urging US President Joe Biden to “stop the war and save the hostages”. Protesters chanted “bring them home,” referring to Israeli hostages held in Gaza and calling on the government to reach an agreement to secure their release.
US officials have signaled some optimism that they can reach a deal to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas after Israel put forward what Blinken described on Monday as an “extraordinarily generous” proposal.
Alongside President Isaac Herzog, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken placed all the blame on Hamas for the failure to reach a deal on the hostages since November.
The Gaza-based terrorist organization is “the only reason why this could not be achieved,” said the top American diplomat, who is in Israel for the seventh time since the massive Hamas attack on October 7. “No delays, no excuses,” Blinken said. “The time is now.”
Blinken said the proposed deal “is the best way, the most effective way, to really address people’s suffering and also to create an environment where we can hope to move forward towards something that is truly sustainable.”
However, reaching an agreement is not a foregone conclusion.
Negotiators from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Hamas met in Cairo as the latter considers a new framework proposed by Egypt which involves the group releasing at least 33 hostages kidnapped by Israel in exchange for a pause in hostilities in Gaza, an Israeli zone, a source close to the negotiations and a foreign diplomatic source told CNN.
Israel helped draft that proposal but has not fully accepted it, the sources said. Israel is waiting for a response from Hamas before deciding whether to send its own delegation to Cairo.
