Blinken says Israel has accepted the latest Gaza deal proposal

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday in Tel Aviv that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the latest proposed ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and urged Hamas to do the same.

Blinken said he had a “very constructive meeting” with Netanyahu, who confirmed that “Israel accepts the transition proposal” put forward by the United States last week in negotiations in Doha.

The Secretary of State, who arrived in Israel the day before to boost international diplomatic efforts to seal an agreement, held meetings today with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Netanyahu, to whom he insisted that this is probably the last opportunity to close an agreement after months of failed attempts.

What is expected

“The next step is for Hamas to say yes,” warned Blinken, although the Islamist group, which did not attend the last round of negotiations in Doha, criticised the latest proposal last night when it was transmitted to them by the mediators, considering that it bows to Israel’s demands.

The US had already presented several draft agreements in June and July, which Hamas accepted a priori and accused Netanyahu of setting new conditions, such as Israeli control of the Philadelphia corridor – the border between the Strip and Egypt used for years by Islamists for arms smuggling – and Netzarin, a military route created by Israel in the war that splits the enclave in two down the middle.

In recent weeks, the international community led by the US has been pushing for an agreement in the Gaza Strip after more than ten months of war, which would also serve to neutralize Iran’s threat to attack Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31 and thus avoid a regional escalation.

A day earlier, Israel had also killed Hezbollah’s top military leader, Fuad Shukr, in a bombing in Beirut, prompting the Shiite group, an ally of Iran, to vow revenge and step up its attacks.

Need

“The parties will need to come together to complete the process of reaching clear understandings on how to implement the commitments made under the agreement,” Blinken said.

Netanyahu pledged to Blinken today to send the negotiating team back to Cairo later this week to continue the talks, according to Israeli media, but Hamas has not commented on the matter.

“There is a deep sense of urgency to get this done and the US is committed to doing it now,” the head of US diplomacy said of the possibility of an agreement.

After his meeting with Blinken, Netanyahu thanked the US for its investment in regional defence against “the Iranian axis” and in Israel’s security, as well as its support in negotiations on the Strip.

“I would like to stress that efforts are being made to free as many hostages alive as possible, already in the first phase of the transaction,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Washington / EFE