US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel has accepted a proposal for a cease-fire and hostage exchange in Gaza, calling on Hamas to do the same.
America’s top diplomat, currently on his ninth trip to the Middle East since Oct. 7, warned this might be the last chance to secure the 111 hostages in Gaza through diplomacy and establish peace in the region.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said as he met with Israeli leadership.
“It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process,” he said in reference to the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Sunday and looming attacks from Hezbollah and Iran.
“And so 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 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 added.
His announcement came after negotiators gathered last week to discuss the US-back, UN-approved deal, with Hamas choosing to forgo the meeting after it accused the Jewish state of changing what was on the table.
The US-backed proposal seeks to impose a six-week pause in fighting so as to allow Israel and Hamas to discuss a hostage exchange, all while allowing Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and receive more aid.
Hamas has allegedly dropped its demands for the immediate cease-fire to be permanent, but the terror group has previously stated that the deal should include wording to establish an end to the war.
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It remains unclear if such a change was added to the agreement or if the terror group would finally accept the deal.
Hamas also accused Israel of now demanding its military keep a presence along the Gaza-Egypt border, where large terror tunnel systems have been recently found, to prevent arms smuggling.
Israel claimed those were not new demands, but clarifications from a previous proposal.
The terror group has ultimately placed the blame of the stalled peace talks on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed.
Netanyahu insisted Sunday that he will stick to his guns and make sure the negotiations go forward as a give-and-take and “not a give-and-give.”
“There are areas where we can show flexibility, and there are areas where we can’t show flexibility — and we are standing firm on them,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
With Post wires
