U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the current ceasefire talks could be the "last opportunity" for the war to end in Gaza and for the Israeli hostages to return home. Blinken, who arrived in Israel for his ninth trip since the war began, urged all parties to get the agreement over the finish line.
"This is a decisive moment – probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security," AFP quoted the top US diplomat as saying during a meeting with the Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
The top US diplomat added that he was in Israel as part of "an intensive diplomatic effort on President Biden's instructions to try to get this agreement to the line and ultimately over the line." "It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no," Blinken added.
He added that it was important to ensure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. "We’re working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places, and to greater intensity," Blinken said.
The secretary of state's response comes as mediating countries, Qatar, the United States and Egypt, have failed to reach a breakthrough in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Blinken met Israel President Isaac Herzog, who blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a hostage deal. "People have to understand it starts with a refusal of Hamas to move forward," Herzog told reporters after his meeting with Blinken.
"We are simply still very hopeful that we can move forward in the negotiations that are held by the mediators," he adds, thanking the United States, Egypt, and Qatar for their efforts. "There is no greater humanitarian objective, and there’s no greater humanitarian cause than bringing back our hostages home as they should have returned long ago," Herzog added.
The negotiations began on Friday after the US and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar said they were closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha. However, Hamas has signalled resistance to what it called new demands by Israel.
As per the deal, the militant group has to release all hostages abducted during its October 7 attack and in exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.
Officials said the US has presented proposals to bridge all the gaps remaining between the Israeli and Hamas positions.
