Tel Aviv, 20 August 2024 (TDI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him of support for a US proposal to bridge gaps on reaching a Gaza ceasefire deal, and pressed Hamas to agree.
Following three hours of meeting with the prime minister in Jerusalem, Blinken said that Netanyahu promised Israel would send a team to negotiations scheduled to resume this week, mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Tel Aviv accepts the bridging proposal. He supports it. It is now incumbent on Hamas to folllow,” Blinken told journalists later in Tel Aviv.
“What I would say to Hamas and to its leaders is, if it really cares about the Palestinians that then it will say ‘yes’ to this deal, and it will work on clear understandings about how to implement it,” Blinken said, a day after Hamas accused Netanyahu of creating hurdles in the mediation efforts.
Hamas had urged mediators to implement a framework outlined in late May by US President Joe Biden. The group said the proposal “responds to Benjamin Netanyahu’s conditions” and leaves him fully responsible for failing the efforts of the mediators.
But Blinken said: “The single most effective, quickest, and best way to end the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people that was instigated by Hamas’s attack on October 7 and the war that ensued is to complete this deal.
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Blinken said he would travel Tuesday to both Egypt and Qatar and meet with the leaders of the two Arab countries, which have worked with the US on a ceasefire plan.
He said he hoped to hear from the Arab partners the latest on the position of Hamas and he played down its criticism of the bridging proposal.
“We have seen public statements before where they do not fully reflect where Hamas is,” Blinken said.
