US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the current negotiations is “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity” to reach a cease-fire agreement and the release of hostages in Gaza.
Blinken made the comments while meeting with Israeli President, Isaac Herzog on Monday during his ninth trip to the region since the beginning of the war in October.
The United States was optimistic for a deal since talks resumed in Doha last week, but Hamas says suggestions of progress are an “illusion,” with differences such as Hamas insisting on Israeli forces withdrawing completely from Gaza.
Blinken is expected to keep the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they meet later on Monday.
“We’re working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places, and to greater intensity,” Blinken said during his meeting with Herzog.
“This is my ninth visit since October 7, to Israel, to the Middle East, and 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.”
The current negotiations are centered on a modified proposal presented by the United States, aimed at bridging the longstanding differences between the two warring factions.
The Americans hope to be able to close the agreement as soon as this time next week.
But Israeli and Hamas leaders are not as optimistic as the United States.
Each of them is accusing the other of frustrating attempts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting “obstacles” to an agreement and imposing new conditions and demands to extend the war.
Hamas added that it considers him “fully responsible” for canceling the efforts of the mediators and “obstructing an agreement”.
A Hamas source previously told Saudi media that the proposals include maintaining a reduced IDF presence along the Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
But Israeli sources told The Times of Israel that other procedures along the border could offset an Israeli withdrawal from the area in the first phase of the agreement.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Source: BBC News
