TEL AVIV: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday on a Middle East tour aimed at intensifying diplomatic pressure to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza this week.
On his 10th trip to the region since the war began in October, Blinken will meet on Monday with senior Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior State Department official said.
After Israel, Blinken will continue onto Egypt.
The talks to strike a deal for a truce and return of hostages held in Gaza were now at an “inflection point”, a senior Biden administration official told reporters en route to
Tel Aviv, adding Blinken was going to stress to all parties the importance of getting this deal over the finish line.
“We think this is a critical time,” the official said.
The mediating countries – Qatar, the United States and Egypt – have so far failed to reach a deal in months of on-off negotiations, and bloodshed continued unabated in Gaza on
Sunday.
A strike killed at least 21 people including six children in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian health authorities said.
The children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the central town of Deir Al-Balah, health officials said. There was no immediate comment from the
Israeli military.
The military said it destroyed rocket launchers used to hit Israel from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks, and killed 20 Palestinian militants.
The talks towards a ceasefire are set to continue this week in Cairo, following a two-day meeting in Doha last week. Blinken will try to reach a breakthrough after the U.S. put forward bridging proposals that the mediating countries believe would close gaps between the warring parties.
There has been increased urgency to reach a ceasefire deal amid fears of escalation across the wider region. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
One day after marking the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, Blinken’s State Dept. approves $20 billion in new weapons to Israel, the world’s worst violator of international humanitarian law: https://t.co/YmcqismndP pic.twitter.com/IWtNzs3Pli
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) August 13, 2024
Netanyahu’s office described the ceasefire talks as “complex” and said it was “conducting negotiations, not giving way in negotiations”.
Israel remained firmly committed to principles established for its security in the May 27 outline proposals, the office said in a statement following a meeting of the cabinet.
Hamas said that optimistic U.S. comments were “deceptive” and accused Netanyahu of making new conditions in an attempt to “blow up” the negotiation.
While details of the negotiations have not been made public, there have been differences over several key issues.
Disagreements include whether Israeli troops should remain present in Gaza after the fighting ends, notably along the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the border with Egypt, and over checks on people going into northern Gaza from the south which Israel says is needed to stop armed militants.
(REUTERS)
