Palestinians run away from a blast after Israeli forces carry out an airstrike on Zagout household in Deir al Balah, Gaza. Photo / Getty Images
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a “bridging proposal” presented by Washington to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and urged Hamas to do the same.
Blinken spoke to journalists after a day of meetings with
Talks in Qatar seeking a ceasefire and hostage return agreement last week paused without a breakthrough, but were expected to resume this week based on the US proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken’s visit comes as US President Joe Biden faces mounting election-year pressure over his stance on the conflict, with his Democratic party starting its national convention on Monday amid pro-Palestinian protests and worries about Muslim and Arab-American votes in swing states.
However, with the Palestinian Islamist group announcing a resumption of suicide bombing inside Israel after many years and claiming responsibility for a blast in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, 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 and fears of wider war.
“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.
Met with @IsraeliPM Netanyahu to discuss efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach an agreement on the ceasefire and hostage release deal. I reaffirmed our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and discussed how any escalation is in no party’s interest. pic.twitter.com/nitptDlnmF
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 19, 2024
“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.
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, not temporary, ceasefire.
There are disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory, and the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swap.
Hamas officials accused Washington of favouring Israel.
“When Blinken says that the Israelis agreed and then the Israelis say that there is an updated proposal, this means that the Americans are subject to Israeli pressure and not the other way around. We believe that it is a manoeuvre that gives the Israelis more time,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Reuters.
The current war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military has since levelled swathes of the Palestinian enclave, 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.
Blinken, on his ninth trip to the region since the war began, also met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday. He later met Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and is due also to visit Egypt and Qatar in the coming days.
Separately, the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency have described as a terrorist attack.
A man who was carrying the bomb was killed and a passerby was injured in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene in Israel’s commercial capital.