Blinken arrives in Israel as Netanyahu accuses Hamas of not yet having a ceasefire in Gaza
Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel in October, the US Secretary of State is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. On Sunday, the under-pressure Israeli prime minister blamed Hamas for delays in reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza, while top US diplomat Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv to press for a deal. Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel in October, the US Secretary of State is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.
Diplomats say a deal on Gaza could help avoid a wider conflagration, and a US official, speaking on the usual condition of anonymity, said it was a "particularly critical moment".
Blinken aims to "put pressure on all parties that it is important that the remaining pieces cross the finish line," the official said.
Before the ceasefire negotiations in Qatar last Thursday and Friday, Hamas asked the mediators - rather than continuing the negotiations - to implement a framework established in late May by US President Joe Biden. But after talks in Qatar between US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, the US presented a new compromise proposal, prompting Hamas to accuse Mr Netanyahu of obstruction on Sunday.
According to Hamas, this proposal "responds to the conditions set by Mr. Netanyahu, in particular his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing to occupy the Netzarim crossing , the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia Corridor.
Israel considers these two important places to prevent weapons from entering the Gaza Strip, while the Netzarim crossing is at a strategic point between northern and southern Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu is "fully responsible for obstructing the efforts of mediators, obstructing an agreement and (bears) full responsibility for the lives" of the hostages in Gaza, the Islamic movement said in a press statement.
Hamas officials have repeatedly accused Mr. Netanyahu of obstructing a deal. Western ally Jordan, supporters of the hostages protesting in Israel and Hamas itself have also called for pressure on Netanyahu to reach an agreement.
Key members of the prime minister's far-right coalition government oppose any ceasefire.
The stakes have risen
On Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that Hamas must come under pressure.
"So far, Hamas remains stubborn, and has not even sent a representative to the Doha negotiations. "So the pressure should be directed at Hamas and (Yahya) Sinwar, and not at the Israeli government," Mr Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting, referring to the Hamas leader.
On Tuesday, Blinken is expected to travel to Cairo, where ceasefire talks will resume in the coming days.
Biden's framework, which he said was proposed by Israel, would initially freeze fighting for six weeks while Israeli hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid flows into the besieged Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israeli negotiators expressed "cautiously optimistic" that a ceasefire agreement could be reached in Gaza.
American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators also reported on the progress. Months of negotiations for a ceasefire have been ongoing, with no agreement so far.
But the peace has increased since the last July killings of Iran-backed rebel leaders, including Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened with fears of a polio epidemic. .
Israeli evacuation orders have "reduced the security zone" in the south of the territory, leaving "no space" for displaced Palestinians, said Samah Dib, 32.
Some are "sleeping in the streets," while drinking water is scarce and food in the markets is "very expensive and we have no money left," said Dib, who, like almost all Gazans, is part of the displaced.
As efforts for a long-sought ceasefire continued, violence also intensified in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and Israeli-occupied Lebanon, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally backed by Iran, they exchanged fire almost every day. They did it again on Sunday.
The sound of tanks
Civil defense officials in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip reported a total of 11 deaths from Israeli shelling of Deir el-Balah and airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp.
The latest deaths helped push the Gaza Health Ministry's death toll to 40,099, which did not provide details on civilian and Hamas deaths.
The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.
The Israeli military said troops continued operations in central and southern Gaza and "eliminated" Hamas in Rafah, on the territory's border with Egypt. From the Israeli-designated safe zone of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, one Lina Saleha, 44, said she could hear "continuous shelling of artillery" and the sound of tanks "advancing".
In the occupied West Bank, an attack on a Jewish settlement killed one Israeli, a hospital said, three days after a deadly raid by settlers in a nearby Palestinian village.
In Lebanon, the UN said three peacekeepers were slightly injured in an explosion in the south of the country.
Iran and its regional allies have vowed to avenge Haniyeh's death in Tehran - for which Israel has not claimed responsibility - and an Israeli attack in Beirut that killed a former Hezbollah commander.
U.S. officials have indirectly heard that Iran "wants a ceasefire, they don't want to see a regional escalation," the U.S. official said.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 111 are still being held in Gaza, of whom 39, according to the military, have died. More than 100 people were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
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August 19, 2024 at 09:16AM
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