Current negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement represent “perhaps the last” opportunity to return the hostages and achieve a ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
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Blinken is visiting Israel to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Gaza.
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“This is my ninth visit to Israel and the Middle East since October 7 (2023), and this is a decisive moment, probably the best, perhaps the last opportunity to bring the hostages home, to achieve a ceasefire,” he emphasized.
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According to the Secretary of State, the time has come for participants in negotiations on a truce in Gaza to stop looking for reasons to abandon them.
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Last week, talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were held in Doha with the participation of Qatar, Egypt, the United States and Israel. The leadership of the Hamas movement refused to participate in the negotiations due to the lack of specifics on the terms of the truce.
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A joint statement from the United States, Qatar and Egypt, released by the office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said mediators had presented Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement with a ceasefire proposal that would reduce differences between the parties. According to the statement, the talks held on Thursday and Friday in the Qatari capital Doha were serious and constructive and took place in a positive atmosphere. The statement said senior government officials from Egypt, the United States and Qatar would meet in Cairo before the end of next week in hopes of reaching an agreement under the terms proposed on Friday.
