US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said now is “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity” to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza, as Hamas Resistance group blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sabotaging efforts of mediators.
Blinken made his comments during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday during his ninth trip to the region since the war began in October.
Meanwhile on Monday, the US secretary met with Netanyahu at his office in occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Israeli media quoted the Israeli PM’s office as saying, adding that the one-on-one meeting between the two men an expanded meeting will take place.
Netanyahu will be joined by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, political adviser Ophir Falk, hostage point man Gal Hirsch, and other top advisers. US Ambassador Jack Lew will join on the US side, The Time of Israel reported.
Earlier on Sunday, Hamas accused Netanyahu of obstructing the agreement.
The Palestinian resistance group said in a statement that Netanyahu was “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators, obstructing an agreement, and (bears) full responsibility for the lives” of captives in Gaza.
The proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions, especially his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing to occupy the Netzarim junction, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi corridor”.
Following two days of talks in Doha between US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, the United States on Friday submitted a new compromise proposal.
Washington has expressed so-called optimism about a deal following talks in Doha, but Hamas said suggestions of progress are an “illusion”, stressing that the US has been trying to impose diktats on the Palestinian resistance movement.
Source: Agencies
