By Humeyra Pamuk
DOHA (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought throughout a whirlwind journey to the Center East to inject urgency into efforts to dealer a Gaza ceasefire deal, however departed the area on Tuesday with an settlement between Israel and Hamas nonetheless elusive.
Blinken and mediators from Egypt and Qatar have pinned their hopes on a U.S. “bridging proposal” aimed toward narrowing the gaps between the 2 sides within the 10-month-old battle, after negotiations final week paused with no breakthrough.
The deal “needs to get done, and it needs to get done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line,” Blinken instructed reporters in Doha earlier than departing for Washington.
A senior Biden administration official travelling with Blinken stated the U.S. expects the ceasefire talks to proceed this week.
Blinken travelled to Egypt for talks on Tuesday with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi after which to Qatar.
After assembly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Blinken stated Israel had accepted the proposal and urged Hamas to do the identical. The Palestinian group has not explicitly rejected it, however says it overturns beforehand agreed phrases.
Blinken was requested in Qatar about Israeli troop withdrawal phrases throughout the ceasefire framework and about an Axios report that quoted Netanyahu as saying he might have satisfied Blinken that Israel ought to maintain troops within the Philadelphi Hall between Egypt and Gaza.
“The United States does not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel,” Blinken stated. “More specifically, the agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of (Israel Defense Forces) withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that. So that’s as much as I know. That’s what I’m very clear about.”
Blinken didn’t remark instantly on the Axios report, a put up on social media web site X. Netanyahu’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Each Hamas and Egypt oppose Israel holding troops within the Philadelphi Hall, however Netanyahu has insisted they’re wanted to cease weapons being smuggled into Gaza. A senior U.S. official disputed the Axios report earlier on Tuesday.
Egyptian safety sources stated the U.S. has proposed a world presence within the Philadelphi Hall space, a suggestion the sources stated could possibly be acceptable to Cairo if restricted to a most of six months.
“The ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of broader international recognition of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution, as this is the basic guarantor of stability in the region,” Sisi stated after assembly Blinken.
‘LAST OPPORTUNITY’
At stake within the talks is the destiny of tiny, crowded Gaza, the place Israel’s army marketing campaign has killed greater than 40,000 folks since October in line with Palestinian well being authorities, and of the remaining hostages being held there.
The battle in Gaza started on Oct. 7, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities and army bases, killing round 1,200 folks and abducting about 250 hostages, in line with Israeli tallies.
Blinken has referred to as the most recent push for a deal “probably the best, possibly the last opportunity”, and stated his assembly with Netanyahu was constructive. He stated it was incumbent on Hamas to just accept the bridging proposal.
Requested about Blinken’s remark, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri instructed Reuters: “Blinken is insisting on not quitting the sphere of lies, and that is one of the reasons for the failure of efforts to reach an agreement.”
Officers from the U.S, Hamas, Israel, Egypt and Qatar haven’t spelled out what’s within the proposal or the way it differs from earlier variations.
Hamas accuses Israel of obstructing an settlement with new calls for and says the group stays dedicated to phrases it agreed with mediators in July primarily based on a proposal made by the U.S. in Could. Netanyahu denies obstructing a deal.
Months of on-off talks have circled the identical points, with Israel saying the battle can solely finish with the destruction of Hamas as a army and political power and Hamas saying it’s going to solely settle for a everlasting, not momentary, ceasefire.
The U.S. official stated even when Hamas had been to agree on the bridging proposal instantly, there must be further conversations to iron out particulars on implementation of the deal.
HOSTAGES RECOVERED
On Tuesday, Israel’s army stated it had recovered the our bodies of six hostages from southern Gaza. Based on Israeli authorities, 109 hostages now stay within the Palestinian territory, round a 3rd of them believed to be lifeless.
In Gaza, Israeli forces battled Hamas-led militants in central and southern areas on Tuesday, and Palestinian well being authorities stated at the least 39 folks had been killed in Israeli strikes, together with on a college housing displaced folks.
Israel’s army stated it had struck Hamas militants embedded within the college.