Israel-Hamas War: Blinken Says Ceasefire Deal ‘Now at Critical Moment’ While Hamas, Netanyahu Express Skepticism

Tel Aviv, Israel
CNN
—

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that efforts to reach a ceasefire and prisoner release agreement in Gaza had reached a “critical moment” as Hamas and the Israeli prime minister expressed doubts about progress in the talks.

“This is perhaps the best chance, and perhaps the last chance, to bring the hostages home, to achieve a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path toward lasting peace and security,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a joint news conference with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv before the two men met.

“It’s time for everyone to come to the table and not look for excuses to say no,” Blinken said. “It’s time to do that. It’s time to make sure that no one takes any steps that would derail that process.”

Shortly after meeting with the Israeli president, Blinken traveled to Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two men met for three hours, including two and a half hours in a one-on-one meeting.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the meeting “was positive and held in a good atmosphere,” adding that Netanyahu “reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal for the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs.”

The meeting was “constructive,” an informed source said.

The source said the two sides discussed a proposal to bridge the gap, and Netanyahu confirmed his support for the proposal and pledged to bring back the mediators. The United States still expects the process to move forward.

The two sides discussed plans for the “day after” in Gaza, humanitarian assistance, and other “specific areas” that are expected to be worked on in working-level talks.

Blinken also met separately with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, who is seen as a moderate within the Israeli government and has been in frequent contact with Blinken throughout the war.

A new ceasefire plan drawn up by the United States, Qatar and Egypt was presented Friday after two days of high-stakes talks in Doha. The mediators have stepped up their efforts as the Middle East braces for a possible Iranian attack on Israel and as the death toll in Gaza since October has topped 40,000 — a grim figure that underscores 10 months of suffering, malnutrition and despair in the Palestinian enclave during Israel’s war with Hamas.

Blinken’s visit has become a regular pattern of traveling to in-person meetings to put high-level public pressure on the need for a deal. On Monday, he said he was in Israel “as part of an intensive diplomatic effort at the direction of President (Joe) Biden to try to achieve this agreement.”

Blinken did not say that the responsibility lies specifically with Hamas to accept the agreement, and he did not mention the group at all.

US officials have expressed optimism about the prospects of the “bridge proposal.” However, on Sunday evening, Hamas and Netanyahu traded accusations that an agreement may still be far off.

Hamas said the latest proposal, presented after discussions between mediators in Doha, did not include a permanent ceasefire and raised new conditions on prisoner exchanges and other issues.

The movement accused Netanyahu of “obstructing” an agreement, and stressed its desire to implement the three-stage proposal presented by US President Joe Biden, which includes the release of hostages from Gaza, a “complete and comprehensive ceasefire”, and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. It called on mediators to “force the occupation to implement” this plan.

Netanyahu responded by saying that Israel would not “give in to Hamas’s demands” to end the war in Gaza as a condition for reaching an agreement.

“The prime minister insisted strongly on this basic demand, which is vital to achieving the goals of the war, and Hamas has changed its position,” his office said in a statement on Sunday. “The prime minister will continue to work to reach an agreement that will increase the number of living hostages and allow all the goals of the war to be achieved.”

Other major points of contention in the talks include Israel’s insistence on controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt, having veto power over the release of Palestinian prisoners, and preventing militants from moving from southern Gaza to the north.

Despite the negative rhetoric, US President Joe Biden said Sunday he believed an agreement was “still possible.”

“We are not going to give up,” Biden told reporters. A U.S. official said Monday that talks were expected to resume this week as planned.

Speaking alongside Herzog on Monday, Blinken acknowledged that this was a “precarious moment” for Israel because of concerns about potential attacks by Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, and said the United States had “taken decisive action … to deter any attacks and if necessary to defend against any attacks.”

“We are working to ensure that there is no escalation, no provocations, no actions that would in any way distance us from reaching this agreement, or escalate the conflict to other places and with greater intensity,” he said.

In a statement similar to Netanyahu’s, Herzog blamed Hamas for not reaching a final agreement yet, saying: “People have to understand that it starts with Hamas’s refusal to move forward.”

The Israeli president expressed his optimism, saying: “We are simply still very optimistic that we can move forward with the negotiations being conducted by the mediators.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said on Sunday that the Israeli government was “dragging its feet” and accused the prime minister of not “doing everything in his power to return the hostages.”

This is Blinken’s ninth trip to the region since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7.

When Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday, an explosion occurred in Tel Aviv that Israeli officials described as a terrorist attack. Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the blast.

In the evening, medical officials said an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza killed seven members of the same family. Al-Aqsa Hospital said six children and their mother were killed in the strike on a house in Deir al-Balah. A hospital spokesman said the children’s father was wounded.

This comes a day after an Israeli airstrike killed at least 15 people, all from the same family, in the al-Zawaida area of ​​Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Nine children were among the dead, according to the Gaza Civil Defense.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Israeli army said its forces were continuing their operations in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. Adding to the suffering of Gazans, doctors last week discovered the first case of polio in the Strip in 25 years.