Blinken Seeks to Bolster Gaza Ceasefire During Mideast Trip

TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to use his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas to push for a quick ceasefire.

Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday ahead of what mediators described as a last-ditch effort to reach a deal in Cairo later this week. He will meet with senior Israeli officials on Monday before traveling to Egypt on Tuesday.

Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed ceasefire announced progress on a deal that would see Israel halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

A senior official accompanying Blinken on his trip said his arrival in the region comes at a “critical time” in the ceasefire talks, and that the secretary will press all parties on the importance of concluding them quickly to end the suffering of civilians in Gaza and prevent the conflict from engulfing the region. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Blinken’s travel.

Shortly before Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that there were areas where Israel could be flexible and unspecified areas where it would not be. “We are in negotiations, not a give-and-take scenario,” he said.

In addition to Netanyahu, Blinken is scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

On Friday, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, the mediators in the negotiations, announced that an agreement was close after two days of talks in Doha, with American and Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas has resisted what it described as new demands made by Israel.

The advanced proposal calls for a three-stage process in which Hamas would release all hostages taken during its October 7 attack, which sparked The bloodiest war ever fought between Israel and the PalestiniansIn return, Israel will withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.

Officials said the United States has put forward proposals to bridge any remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas. Official responses to the U.S. plan are expected this week, and could lead to a ceasefire unless talks collapse, as have many previous efforts to end the 10-month war.

US President Joe Biden appeared optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement, saying on Friday, “We are closer than we have ever been.”

“We’re still going. We’re not going to give up. It’s still possible,” Biden told reporters on Sunday when asked about a ceasefire.

Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigning in Pennsylvania, was asked if Netanyahu was willing to reach a ceasefire agreement.

“I won’t speak for him, but I will tell you that these talks are ongoing and we’re not giving up, and we’re going to continue to work very hard on this,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “We have to get a ceasefire and get these hostages released.”

The renewed efforts to reach a ceasefire come as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 40,000 since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties. Israel entered Gaza after Hamas launched surprise attacks inside Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

Since then, fears of a rapid and dangerous escalation to other parts of the region have ebbed and flowed. These fears have risen again with Iran and its proxies threatening revenge for the killing of senior Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and the head of Hamas’s political wing in Iran.

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Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Moon, Pennsylvania, and Ayanna Alexander in Washington contributed to this report.