Joe McConnell
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will soon arrive in Israel to promote a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages in Gaza.
His ninth trip to the region since the war began in October, comes days after the United States unveiled a revised proposal aimed at bridging long-standing differences between the two sides.
Since talks resumed in Doha last week, the United States and Israel have expressed optimism about a deal, but Hamas says any hint of progress is an “illusion.”
The disagreements are also said to concern the question of whether Israeli troops will be forced to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, as Hamas insists.
A Hamas source told Saudi media that the proposals include maintaining a reduced IDF presence along the Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
But Israeli sources told The Times of Israel that other procedures along the border could compensate for a possible Israeli withdrawal from the area in the first phase of the agreement.
The Israeli military has launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, during which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-led health ministry.
A ceasefire deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 of the hostages in exchange for a week-long ceasefire and the release of some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says 111 hostages are still being held, 39 of whom are believed to be dead.
US President Joe Biden said earlier this week that “we are closer than ever” to a deal.
But the optimism previously expressed during months of intermittent talks proved unfounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that complex negotiations were underway to secure the return of the hostages, but that certain principles must be respected for Israel’s security.
“There are things we can be flexible on, and there are things we can’t be flexible on, and we insist on those. We know very well how to distinguish between the two,” he said.
He also accused Hamas of being “stubborn” in negotiations and called for further pressure to be put on the militant group.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC on Saturday: “What we have received from the mediators is very disappointing. There has been no progress.”
The original agreement outlined by President Biden, based on Israel’s May 27 proposal, was to have taken place in three phases:
- The first would include a six-week “complete and comprehensive ceasefire,” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the exchange of certain hostages, including women, the elderly, the sick, or the wounded, for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
- The second phase would involve the release of all remaining living hostages and a “permanent end to hostilities.”
- The third would see the launch of a major reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of the deceased hostages.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Gaza health authority says Israeli air strikes killed at least 21 people, including six children, on Sunday.
The IDF said on Sunday it destroyed rocket launchers used to target Israel from the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, which has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks, killing 20 Palestinians.
