Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Monday that now is “maybe the last” and best possible chance for Israel to secure a Gaza cease-fire agreement that brings home hostages held by Hamas, urging both sides to accept a deal before the conflict turns into a wider regional war.
Blinken’s ninth diplomatic trip to Israel comes amid fears that Iran itself could directly retaliate against Israel for the targeted killings of top militant commanders, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and Fuad Shukr of Hezbollah, late last month. Iran blames Israel for both attacks, though Israel has yet to claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said alongside Israeli president Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Monday.
“It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process,” he added, seemingly referring to Iran. “And so 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 move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.”
Iran is delaying its reprisals against Israel to allow time for cease-fire talks to result in an agreement, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing multiple officials from the U.S., Iran, and Israel.
Blinken’s statement comes less than 24 hours after Hamas rejected the latest cease-fire proposal, in which Israel would have ended most military operations in Gaza and released Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing over 100 remaining hostages. The deal was mediated by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar without a Hamas delegation present. Negotiations were held in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
In a statement released Sunday evening, Hamas blamed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for putting up new obstacles during cease-fire negotiations.
“After being briefed by the mediators about what happened in the last round of talks in Doha, we once again came to the conclusion that Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement, and is setting new conditions and demands with the aim of undermining the mediators’ efforts and prolonging the war,” Hamas said, noting that the U.S. proposal “aligns with” Netanyahu’s demands.
The terror group objected to the proposal primarily because it didn’t include a permanent cease-fire or an absolute Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The prime minister particularly wants to keep Israeli forces in the Rafah Crossing and Philadelphi Corridor along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
While the latest round of talks collapsed, mediators will meet again this week in Egypt attempting to finalize a cease-fire agreement. Hoping to have a deal in place by the end of the week, Blinken will travel to Cairo on Tuesday.
While meeting with the U.S. official, Herzog thanked the Biden administration for its support amid the Israel-Hamas war and addressed a recent terrorist attack against Israelis.
“This is the way we are living these days,” Herzog said. “We are surrounded by terrorism from all four corners of the earth, and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation.”
On Sunday night, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing near a synagogue in Tel Aviv as Blinken arrived in Israel for the U.S.’s ongoing peace efforts in the region. Both groups claimed joint responsibility on Monday for the attack, which left the suicide bomber dead and one passerby injured.