Blinken calls on Hamas to accept US proposal on ending Gaza war

Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Monday urged Hamas to accept a US bridging proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after what he said was a “very constructive” meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reports.

He had earlier said the latest push for a deal was probably the best and possibly last opportunity, urging both sides towards agreement.

Talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough, but the negotiations are expected to resume this week, based on the US proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.

However, with the Palestinian group claiming responsibility for an attack inside Israel after many years, and medics saying Israeli military strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, there are few signs of conciliation on the ground.

“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal – that he supports it,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv.

READ: Israel to send negotiators to Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt, Netanyahu tells Blinken

“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators – the United States, Egypt and Qatar – have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement.”

Despite US expressions of optimism and Netanyahu’s office describing the meeting as positive, both Israel and Hamas have signalled that any deal will be difficult.

Hamas accused Netanyahu on Sunday of “thwarting the mediators’ efforts” and Turkiye said Hamas envoys had told it that US officials were “painting an overly optimistic picture”.

Months of on-off talks have circled the same issues, with Israel saying the war can only end with the destruction of Hamas as a military and political force and Hamas saying it will only accept a permanent, and not a temporary, ceasefire.

There are disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, over the free movement of Palestinians inside the Territory, and over the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swap.

The current war in Gaza began on 7 October last year when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

Israel’s military campaign has since levelled swathes of Gaza, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people according to Palestinian health authorities.

READ: Hamas says Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in way of ceasefire deal