Tel Aviv, 19 August 2024 (TDI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel in his latest effort to push for a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement in Gaza.
His 9th visit to the region since the war started in October comes days after the US presented a modified proposal aimed at narrowing long-standing gaps between the two sides.
Washington has expressed optimism about an agreement since negotiations resumed in Doha last week, but Hamas says suggestions of progress are an “illusion”.
Differences are said to include whether Israeli forces will be required to withdraw fully from Gaza, as Hamas insists.
Blinken will attempt to maintain pressure on the Israeli leader when they meet on Monday – he will say that now is the moment to stop any more attempts to fail last concessions and take an agreement.
On Blinken’s way to Israel, one senior US official was using phrases including an inflection point and a critical moment.
US hoped it can get this over the finish line perhaps as soon as this time next week.
But that level of optimism is not shared by Hamas or the Israeli leadership.
Each accuses the other of obstinate cynicism, and blocking an agreement.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of creating “obstacles” in the way of a deal and setting new conditions and demands just to prolong the war.
It added it holds the Israeli leader fully responsible for thwarting mediators’ efforts and obstructing a deal.
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The proposals include the IDF maintaining a reduced presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land along the southern border of Gaza with Egypt.
Israeli forces launched an aggression in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which al least 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. More than forty thousand people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
