U.S. urges Hamas to settle on ceasefire with Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas on Wednesday to accept the latest proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, saying the “time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.
But a key sticking point appeared to remain — whether the deal would completely end Israel’s offensive as Hamas has demanded.
Blinken met Israeli leaders throughout the day on the last stop of his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, trying to push through what has been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas.
The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar hope to avert an Israeli offensive into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Throughout months of talks, Hamas has said the freeing of all the hostages it holds must bring a permanent halt to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The proposed deal now at the centre of talks raises that possibility, according to leaked details that were confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official. But Hamas is seeking to strengthen the language to ensure a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, said the Egyptian official, who did not want to be named.
The group said it is likely to give its response to the proposal today.
In public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly rejected stopping the war before Hamas is destroyed.
In a sign of the challenges in the negotiations, Netanyahu in his talks with Blinken on Wednesday repeated his vow to launch the offensive on Rafah, which, he says, is Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza.
Blinken said Israel has made “very important” compromises in ceasefire efforts and it is now up to Hamas to get the deal done.
“There’s no time for further haggling. The deal is there,” Blinken said, shortly before he was to leave Israel.
Earlier, in talks with Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, Blinken said Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. “No delays, no excuses. The time is now,” he said.
Blinken said the deal would also allow much-needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis, pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine and driven 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million from their homes.
Blinken said there has been “meaningful progress” in efforts to increase the flow of aid.
On Wednesday, Israel reopened its Erez crossing for deliveries into northern Gaza for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Hanging over the ceasefire negotiations is the possibility of an Israeli attack on Rafah
Hardline members of Netanyahu’s coalition, on whom he depends to keep his government in power, have railed against any deal that prevents a Rafah attack as a victory for Hamas.