Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered twin messages to Hamas and Israel on Wednesday, pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal while also urging Israeli leaders to postpone a major ground invasion of the densely populated city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. .
On the final day of a trip to the Middle East, his seventh visit to the region since the war began in October, Blinken sought to increase pressure on Hamas.
“We are determined to achieve a ceasefire that brings the hostages home and achieve it now, and the only reason that would not happen is because of Hamas,” Blinken said at the start of a meeting in Tel Aviv. Aviv with Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. “There is a proposal on the table and, as we have said: without delays, without excuses. The time is now.”
The proposed deal calls for the release of 33 hostages in the initial stage of a ceasefire and would lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Blinken’s comments, made in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, were part of a concerted campaign by the Biden administration to ensure a pause in a war that Gaza officials say has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians. The bloodshed has shaken American universities and is seeping into domestic politics.
Blinken also made it clear that he expected more from Israel.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday night after a day of meetings with Israeli leaders, including nearly three hours with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken said the Israelis had not convinced him that they can prevent the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding. fears in the event of a humanitarian catastrophe. ground invasion of Rafah.
“We cannot and will not support a major military operation in Rafah without an effective plan to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and no, we have not seen such a plan,” Blinken told reporters. “There are other, and in our judgment better, ways to address the real and ongoing challenge from Hamas that does not involve or require a major military operation.”
Blinken’s visit to the Middle East, which began Monday, came as Israel is softening some of its demands in ceasefire negotiations and deepening its promise to move toward Rafah “with or without a deal,” as Netanyahu put it. he expressed earlier this week.
In its latest proposal, Israel said it would alleviate return trips to northern Gaza for Palestinian civilians uprooted by its attack, according to two Israeli officials. This is a sharp change in an issue that has been a sticking point in the conversations.
For weeks, Israel had demanded that it be able to impose significant restrictions on Palestinians heading north, fearing that Hamas, which sparked the war with its deadly attack on Israel on October 7, could take advantage of a large-scale attack. get stronger again.
Now, Israel has given its consent for Palestinian civilians to return en masse during the first phase of a deal, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details of the proposal.
One of the Israeli officials said those returning to the north would not be subject to inspections or limitations, while the second said there would be almost no restrictions, without elaborating.
It was unclear whether Hamas would accept the Israeli proposal.
On Wednesday night, a spokesman for the group, Osama Hamdan, said in an interview on Lebanese television: “Our position on the current negotiating document is negative.” But Hamas’s press office later clarified those comments. “The negative position does not mean that negotiations have stopped,” the press office stated. “There is a back and forth problem.”
Hamas has long demanded that any deal include a permanent end to the war, which has forced most of Gaza’s more than two million residents to flee their homes. The Israeli offer, according to one of the Israeli officials, does not include language explicitly discussing an end to the fighting.
Blinken discussed the ceasefire and hostage deal that was on the table in his meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, according to a State Department summary. He also spoke of the US government’s “clear position” on Rafah, according to the summary. With around a million civilians sheltered there, US officials say Israel should carry out targeted operations against Hamas leaders and fighters in the city.
Blinken also spoke with the leader of the opposition in the Israeli Parliament, Yair Lapid. Lapid later said in a social media post that Netanyahu had “no political excuse” for not reaching an agreement to declare a ceasefire and release the hostages. “Every hour is critical,” he said.
Increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza has been a recurring theme during Blinken’s stops in Israel and, a day earlier, in Jordan.
On Tuesday afternoon, he visited a warehouse in Jordan where trucks were being loaded with food and medical aid to be directed to the newly opened Erez crossing into northern Gaza. “This is real and important progress,” Blinken said, “but there is still much to do.”
The next day, about 30 trucks carrying goods from Jordan passed through the crossing. The opening was promised weeks ago, but the Israeli military said it had been necessary to build inspection facilities and pave roads on both sides of the border before aid trucks could use the crossing.
On Wednesday, Blinken also visited an inspection checkpoint at Kerem Shalom, a southern border crossing between Israel and Gaza. Flatbed trucks with bags of food aid bound for Gaza – onions, rice and cooking oil – were awaiting inspection. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Defense Minister, walked with Blinken.
Before touring the checkpoint, Blinken visited an Israeli kibbutz that was one of the sites attacked by Hamas and its allies on October 7. At Kibbutz Nir Oz, he entered a burned-out house where a family of five, all American citizens, lived. , had been murdered.
On Wednesday, across the border, Israeli airstrikes continued. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the bodies of 33 people killed in attacks had been brought to local hospitals in the past 24 hours.