Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the newest U.S. proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Monday.
The announcement got here after Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 3 hours on Monday in a last-ditch try and safe a cease-fire deal in Gaza and a launch of hostages held by Hamas.
After his assembly with Netanyahu, Blinken met with hostage households whereas a whole bunch of protesters demonstrated outdoors his Israeli lodge, calling for a hostage launch.
Blinken’s announcement comes hours earlier than U.S. President Joe Biden is anticipated to make a speech on the Monday opening of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, during which Vice President Kamala Harris is anticipated to be formally nominated because the Democratic candidate for president within the November election.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal. He supports it. It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same,” Blinken informed reporters later in Tel Aviv.
“What I would say to Hamas and to its leadership is, if it genuinely cares about the Palestinian people that it purports to somehow represent, then it will say ‘yes’ to this agreement, and it will work on clear understandings about how to implement it,” Blinken stated, a day after Hamas accused Netanyahu of obstructing the mediation efforts and deviating from Biden’s proposal.
Hamas had known as on mediators to implement a framework outlined in late May by U.S. President Joe Biden. The motion stated the bridging proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions” and leaves him “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators.”
Blinken stated he would journey Tuesday to each Egypt and Qatar and meet with the leaders of the 2 Arab nations, which have labored with the United States on a cease-fire plan.
He stated he hoped to listen to from the Arab companions the newest on Hamas’s place and he performed down the militants’ criticism of the bridging proposal.
“We’ve seen public statements before where they don’t fully reflect where Hamas is,” Blinken stated.
The Palestinian resistance group, which didn’t attend the talks straight, beforehand stated it could not settle for any deviations from Biden’s peace plan.
Israel is accused of assassinating Hamas’s foremost negotiator, political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, final month, in a blow to negotiations.
Hamas believes the negotiations ought to deal with ending the struggle, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the coastal territory, the return of displaced folks to their houses, reconstruction and the tip of the Israeli blockade.
Source: www.dailysabah.com