Blinken travels from the Middle East – still without a truce in sight

– With each passing day, bad things can happen to more good people who don’t deserve it, said Blinken before he flew out of Doha in Qatar. He asks both Hamas and Israel to show flexibility.

– This must be done, and it must be done in the next few days, and we will do everything we can to get it over the finish line, said Blinken about the ceasefire proposal, which has been the subject of intense negotiations in recent days.

Blinken has visited both Israel, Egypt and Qatar to present ideas that can reduce the distance between Hamas and Israel. With the help of diplomats from Qatar and Egypt, he has tried to pressure Hamas to return to the negotiating table.

Netanyahu with new demands

But the day after Blinken said Israel accepted the proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by Israeli media as disagreeing on several points. Among other things, Netanyahu insists that Israel should retain control over the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. This has upset Egypt, which is among the countries trying to broker a solution that could end the fighting and ensure that the hostages are released.

Blinken emphasizes that the US has made it clear to Israel from the outset that it does not accept a long-term occupation of Gaza.

A US official says Netanyahu’s “maximalist” statements are not helping to bring about a ceasefire.

The Emir ill

After holding talks with Egypt’s president in Cairo on Tuesday, Blinken traveled to Doha, where he was to hold talks with Qatar’s emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. But Qatar’s leader felt unwell, and instead there was a phone call.

Hamas has announced that the group wants a ceasefire based on the proposal that the US put forward earlier this summer, but the group refuses to agree to new demands from Israel.

On the night of Wednesday, new Israeli airstrikes against the Gaza Strip were reported. During the war, at least 40,223 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Wednesday’s overview from Gaza’s health authorities. Of these, 50 have been killed in the last 24 hours. Close to 93,000 are wounded, and tens of thousands are missing, many of whom probably lie dead under collapsed buildings.