US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on another Middle East tour to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, but Hamas expressed doubts about the mission just hours after he landed, according to Reuters.
Hamas stated that it held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for “thwarting the mediators’ efforts,” delaying an agreement and subjecting Israeli hostages in Gaza to the same aggression faced by Palestinians.
On his ninth trip to the region since the war broke out in October, Blinken would meet with senior Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, on Monday. Blinken will proceed to Egypt after Israel.
The mediating countries – Qatar, the US, and Egypt – have so far failed to reach an agreement during months of periodic talks.
The ceasefire talks will continue this week in Cairo after a two-day meeting in Doha last week. Blinken will try to achieve a breakthrough after the US put forward proposals that the mediating countries believe will eliminate divisions between the warring parties.
The war erupted on 7 October when Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Meanwhile, Israel’s retaliatory campaign resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Readiness to end the conflict
Efforts to reach a ceasefire intensified amid greater escalation. Iran threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July. Netanyahu’s office, for its part, said it would not back down from the security principles laid out on 27 May.
I would like to emphasise: We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give. There are things we can be flexible on and… things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on.
Hamas claimed the optimistic US comments were “deceptive” and accused Netanyahu of creating new conditions in an attempt to “undermine” the talks. Disagreements include whether Israeli troops should remain in the Gaza Strip after the fighting ends, especially along the border with Egypt, as well as checks on people travelling to the northern Gaza from the south, which Israel says are necessary to stop armed militants.
Hamas has been pushing for a cease-fire agreement to end the war, whereas Israel has not indicated it was willing to go beyond a temporary pause in the fighting.
