U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to agree to the latest U.S. proposal for a hostage deal, as Washington intensified its efforts to broker an agreement that could potentially bring an end to the conflict in Gaza.
During a press conference in Tel Aviv following discussions with Israel’s political and military leaders, Blinken described his earlier meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “very constructive.” After their meeting, Netanyahu issued a statement expressing support for the new U.S. proposal.
Blinken emphasized that Netanyahu had “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal” put forward by the U.S. last week in Doha, aimed at resolving the remaining differences between the parties.
“Now, it’s up to Hamas to do the same,” Blinken stated.
He reiterated, “The next crucial step is for Hamas to agree, and then, in the coming days, for all the expert negotiators to work out the details for implementing the agreement.”
However, late on Monday, Hamas official Osama Hamdan responded to Blinken’s comments, telling Reuters that Netanyahu’s acceptance of the updated U.S. proposal “raises many ambiguities” because it differs from what Hamas was presented with and agreed upon.
Hamdan, who had outlined Hamas’s own terms in a July 2 proposal, stated that they had informed the mediators that “we don’t need new Gaza ceasefire negotiations; we need to agree on an implementation mechanism.” Hamas’s July 2 proposal, which Netanyahu had rejected, was a response to an Israeli proposal made public by U.S. President Joe Biden in late May.
During their three-hour meeting, Netanyahu informed Blinken that he would send his top negotiators to finalize the details.
