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20-08-2024
JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu has described his three-hour meeting with Antony Blinken as “positive” and says it was “conducted in good spirit”.
The US Secretary of State is making his ninth trip to the region since Israel’s war on Hamas began in October.
The US expressed optimism about a ceasefire deal after talks resumed in Doha last week.
However, Hamas has said suggestions of progress are an “illusion”, with a number of issues between the two sides still contested including whether Israeli troops will be required to withdraw fully from Gaza.
Earlier that day Blinken also met with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and said it was “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity” to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
“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.
He said it was “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity” to get the hostages released and achieve a ceasefire.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office following his talks with Biden said: “The prime minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the latest American proposal regarding the release of our hostages – taking into account Israel’s security needs, which he insists on firmly.”
The current negotiations are based on a modified proposal presented by the US, aimed at bridging long-standing gaps between Israel and Hamas.
The Americans hope they can get the deal over the finish line perhaps as soon as this time next week but that level of optimism is not shared by the Israeli leadership or Hamas.
Each accuses the other of obstinate cynicism, and blocking a deal.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting “obstacles” in the way of an agreement and “setting new conditions and demands” with the aim of “prolonging the war”.
It added it holds him “fully responsible” for thwarting mediators’ efforts and “obstructing an agreement”.
A Hamas source earlier told Saudi media that the proposals include the IDF maintaining a reduced presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt but Israeli sources have told the Times of Israel that other procedures along the border could compensate for an Israeli withdrawal from the area in the first phase of the deal.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A ceasefire deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 of the hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and the freeing of some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says 111 hostages are still being held, 39 of whom are presumed dead.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said “we are closer than we have ever been” to a deal. (Int’l News Desk)
