As part of a diplomatic effort to put an end to Israel and Hamas’ conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas on Monday to promptly accept Israel’s most recent and “extraordinarily generous” offering for a Gaza truce in order to guarantee the release of captives.
Prior to an Israeli attack on the southern border city of Rafah, Hamas negotiators were scheduled to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Monday to offer a response to Israel’s proposed phased truce.
“The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas. They have to decide and they have to decide quickly,” Blinken said at a special meeting of the World Economic Forum held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
“I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.”
A source briefed on the talks said Israel’s proposal entailed a deal to accept the release of fewer than 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in exchange for freeing Palestinians jailed in Israel, and a second phase of a truce consisting of a “period of sustained calm” – Israel’s compromise response to a Hamas demand for permanent ceasefire.
Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the first stop in the latest of a series of trouble-shooting trips to the Middle East since the Gaza war ignited in October, destabilising the wider tinderbox region.
Blinken reiterated that the U.S. could not support an Israeli ground assault on Rafah – where Israel says Hamas’ last four intact battalions are holed up – “in the absence of an (Israeli) plan to ensure that civilians will not be harmed”.
He said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia had done “intense work together” over the past few months towards a normalisation accord between the kingdom and Israel, a deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defence and security commitments as well as nuclear cooperation.
Diplomats say the eruption of the Gaza war derailed progress towards Israeli-Saudi normalisation.
The U.S. and Saudi components of the agreement are “potentially very close to completion,” Blinken said. “To move forward with normalisation, two things will be required: calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.”
