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US secretary of state Antony Blinken landed in Israel on Sunday as Washington intensified its diplomatic push to safe a deal for ending the struggle between Israel and Hamas and liberating the hostages nonetheless held in Gaza.
The US and Arab states view an settlement as the easiest way of stopping the struggle between Israel and Hamas from spiralling right into a full-blown regional battle, after Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hizbollah pledged to retaliate for the assassinations of two senior militants final month.
Blinken was resulting from meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and different Israeli officers on Monday. His newest journey comes earlier than a gathering in Cairo later this week the place the US, Qatar and Egypt, mediators between Israel and Hamas, are hoping to dealer a ceasefire.
Nevertheless, important gaps between the Israeli and Hamas positions stay, and Netanyahu mentioned on Sunday that, whereas Israel was ready to be versatile in some areas, it might not budge in others.
“We’re conducting negotiations and never a situation during which we simply give and provides. There are issues we may be versatile on and there are issues that we can’t be versatile on, which we’ll insist on. We all know how one can distinguish between the 2 very properly,” he mentioned.
Blinken’s arrival in Tel Aviv got here two days after the US, Qatar and Egypt set out a proposal at talks in Doha geared toward bridging the gaps between Israel and Hamas. The proposal is predicated on a three-stage plan that US President Joe Biden set out in Might to finish the combating and safe the discharge of hostages.
Within the days after final week’s assembly, US and Israeli officers voiced guarded hopes about prospects. Biden mentioned that, whereas the edges had been “not there but”, an settlement might be “shut”, and Netanyahu’s workplace expressed “cautious optimism”.
Nevertheless, Hamas officers rejected the concept that final week’s talks had led to any progress. In a press release on Sunday night, the group accused Netanyahu of looking for to sabotage the deal, and mentioned the bridging proposal contained modifications that took account of Israeli calls for however not of Hamas’s and thus “don’t permit for reaching an settlement”.
Earlier, an official briefed on the talks mentioned mediators had been nonetheless “cautiously optimistic”.
“There are nonetheless sticking factors on the important thing points, however indication is Hamas has engaged with mediators across the ‘bridging proposal’ introduced on Friday,” the official mentioned. “Individually, mediators have been partaking with Iran within the hopes of avoiding an escalation and giving the continuing talks an opportunity.”
The three-stage plan set out by Biden envisages a primary stage based mostly on a six-week truce, throughout which Hamas would free a primary group of hostages in trade for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The second section would contain the discharge of all hostages and what mediators hope could be an prolonged ceasefire, in impact ending the 10-month struggle. The third section would begin the reconstruction of Gaza.
Nevertheless, one of many sticking factors is Israel’s dedication to maintain a army presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt, generally known as the Philadelphi hall — one thing Hamas has repeatedly rejected.
A Turkish overseas ministry official mentioned on Sunday that Hamas officers had reached out to Ankara, complaining that US officers had been portray a very optimistic image on the state of talks.
The official mentioned that, from Hamas’s perspective, the phrases of the deal had fallen behind what even the UN Safety Council endorsed on June 10.
Biden’s plan, which was initially endorsed by Israel, envisaged Israeli forces withdrawing from populated areas of Gaza within the first stage, and fully within the second stage. Nevertheless, in current weeks, Netanyahu has insisted Israel will keep a presence alongside the Philadelphi hall.
He reiterated that place on Sunday and lashed out at “serial leakers”, following experiences within the Israeli media that his place had left him at odds with Israel’s negotiating staff.
“The prime minister insists that we stay within the Philadelphi hall with a purpose to forestall terrorist components from rearming,” his workplace mentioned in a press release. “The prime minister will proceed to work on advancing a deal that may maximise the variety of residing hostages and which can allow the attaining of all the struggle targets.”
Extra reporting by Adam Samson in Ankara
