JERUSALEM – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the Gaza war began without negotiating a ceasefire agreement, warning Tuesday that “time is running out” even as Hamas and Israel suggested challenges remain.
After meetings in fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, Blinken said that since Israel had accepted a proposal to bridge differences with the militant group, the focus was now on doing everything possible to “get Hamas on board” and ensure that both sides agree on key implementation details.
“Our message is simple. It is clear and urgent,” he told reporters before leaving Qatar. “We must get across the finish line to a ceasefire and a hostage-taking agreement, and we must do it now. Time is running out.”
The need for a settlement has become even more urgent following recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah militant leaders in Iran and Lebanon, both attributed to Israel, and threatened retaliatory strikes that have fuelled fears of a wider regional war.
People also read…
Few details were released about the so-called bridging proposal from the US, Egypt and Qatar. Blinken said the plan and locations of the (Israeli) withdrawal from Gaza were “very clear”.
Hamas on Tuesday described the latest proposal as a reversal of the agreements and accused the US of submitting to Israel’s new conditions. There was no immediate US reaction.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, met with right-wing groups of families of fallen soldiers and hostages in Gaza. The groups, which oppose a ceasefire, said Netanyahu told them Israel would not give up two strategic corridors in Gaza, whose control by Israel is an obstacle to the talks. Netanyahu’s office did not comment on their report.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed as “completely untrue” Netanyahu’s alleged comments that he told Blinken that Israel would never leave the corridors of Philadelphia and Netzarim.
Netanyahu’s meeting with the families came as the Israeli military announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. That sparked renewed grief among many Israelis who have long urged Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire that would bring the remaining hostages home. Fresh protests erupted on Tuesday.
Blinken’s meetings in Egypt, which borders Gaza, and in Qatar, where some Hamas leaders live in exile, come a day after he met with Netanyahu, who said the prime minister had accepted a US proposal to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas. Blinken called on Hamas to do the same. Authorities did not provide details of the bridging proposal.
There appear to be major differences between the two sides, but angry statements are often used as leverage in negotiations.
The Israeli military said its forces recovered the bodies of the six hostages during a night operation in the southern Gaza Strip. The hostages were killed at a time when troops were operating in Khan Younis.
According to Hamas, some prisoners were killed in Israeli air strikes. However, returning hostages also spoke of difficult conditions in captivity, including a lack of food and medicine.
The recovery of the remains is also a blow to Hamas, which is hoping for a hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire.
There were no reports of casualties among Israelis or Palestinians during the rescue operation.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in El Alamein, Egypt, on Tuesday.
Kevin Mohatt, Pool
Hamas is believed to still be holding around 110 hostages. Israeli authorities believe that around a third of the hostages are dead.
The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. The fighting left about 1,200 people dead and the militants took about 250 hostages. More than 100 of them were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive; its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The air and ground offensive caused great destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants to flee their homes, often several times. Aid organizations fear an outbreak of diseases such as polio.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 people on Tuesday in a school in Gaza City that was being used as an emergency shelter. The Palestinian Civil Defense, a Hamas government aid group, said about 700 people had sought shelter in the Mustafa Hafez school. The Israeli military claimed the attack was aimed at Hamas militants who had set up a command center there.
“We don’t know where to go… or where to put our children,” says Um Khalil Abu Agwa, a displaced woman.
An Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah hit pedestrians on the street, killing seven people, including a woman and two children, according to an Associated Press journalist who counted the dead. More than 20 others were injured.
Another airstrike in central Gaza killed five children and their mother, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, where an AP journalist counted the bodies.
