The United States’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, is visiting Israel as part of Washington’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza in which more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged enclave since last October.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday, days after the US put forward proposals that it and mediators Qatar and Egypt believe would close gaps between Israel and Hamas. Truce talks are expected to resume in Cairo in the coming days after two days of negotiations in Doha this week.
Mediators have said they presented a bridging ceasefire proposal to both sides and that negotiations were making progress, but they also cautioned that there is still work to be done.
In Israel, Blinken is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.
Blinken will then head to Egypt on Tuesday, the State Department said.
Israel’s negotiating team on Saturday expressed “cautious optimism” on the possibility of advancing a deal, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
However, Hamas has called for a ceasefire plan outlined by Biden in late May to be implemented instead of something that introduces “new conditions” from Israel.
Among the sticking points are conditions that Israel added since the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on the proposal outlined in May – including continued Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor separating the Egyptian region of Sinai from the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of checkpoints to monitor the movement of people from south to north.
The discussions will also include the list of captives’ names to be released in Gaza, the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, and the schedule for their release.
Hamas as well as some analysts and Israeli protesters have accused Netanyahu of hamstringing a deal to safeguard his hard-right ruling coalition.
Negotiations are unfolding under the threat of a regional escalation, with Iran pledging to retaliate against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel’s deadly attacks continue, with nearly two dozen people killed overnight and into Sunday – including a family of eight. This week, the death toll from Israel’s bombardment in the Gaza Strip reached 40,000, according to Palestinian health authorities.
