US envoy pressuring Hamas to take deal

‘The time is now’ for ceasefire with Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas to accept the latest proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, saying the “time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and pause 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 with 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.

The US and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar hope to avert an Israeli offensive into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 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, the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations.

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 yesterday repeated his vow to launch the offensive on Rafah, which he says is Hamas’ 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 the day, he said in talks with Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv that 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 about 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. Yesterday, Israel reopened its Erez crossing for deliveries into northern Gaza for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas’ October 7 attack.

Hanging over the ceasefire negotiations is the possibility of an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has fled, cramming into vast tent camps and other shelters. Netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with the assault with or without a ceasefire deal.

“The operation in Rafah doesn’t depend on anything. The Prime Minister made this clear to Secretary Blinken,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Hard-line 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.

The United States has staunchly supported Israel’s campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza since Hamas’ unprecedented attack on October 7 into southern Israel.

But the US has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians and has been outspoken against a move on Rafah.

Salwa Abu Hatab, a woman who fled Khan Younisand is now in a tent camp, said she wants to go home.

“Do you think we like life in tents? We are tired and suffering.”