Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered two messages to Hamas and Israel on Wednesday, pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire offer and urging Israeli leaders to carry out a large-scale attack on Rafah, a heavily populated southern city in Gaza. He urged the government to postpone any ground invasion. .
On the final day of his tour of the Middle East, his seventh since the war began in October, Mr. Blinken sought to increase pressure on Hamas.
“We are determined to achieve a ceasefire now that will bring the hostages home, and the only reason that won't happen is because of Hamas,” Blinken said at the beginning of the Telman meeting. Aviv and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “There are proposals on the table and, as we have said, there can be no delays or excuses. The time is now.”
The draft agreement calls for the release of 33 hostages in the initial stages of a ceasefire, and is expected to lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Blinken's comments, made in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, were part of a joint campaign by the Biden administration to secure a pause in the war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza officials. . The bloodshed has roiled American campuses and seeped into domestic politics.
Blinken also made it clear that he has high expectations for Israel.
Blinken told reporters Wednesday night after a day of talks with Israeli leaders, including nearly three hours with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the Israeli side was concerned about what would happen if a situation were to arise. He said he was not confident that a potential humanitarian catastrophe could be prevented. Ground invasion of Rafah.
“I cannot and will not support a major military operation in Rafah without an effective plan to ensure that civilians are not harmed,” Blinken told reporters. . No, I have never seen such a plan. “There are other, and in our judgment better, ways to address the real and ongoing challenge of Hamas that do not require large-scale military operations.”
Blinken's Middle East trip, which began on Monday, comes as Israel softens some of its demands in ceasefire talks and digs into its pledge to advance into Rafah “with or without a deal.” Prime Minister Netanyahu said so earlier this week.
Israel said it would ease this in its latest proposal. Two Israeli officials said some were returning to northern Gaza to join Palestinian civilians uprooted by the attacks. This is a sharp shift on an issue that has stalled negotiations.
For weeks, Israel has imposed significant restrictions on Palestinians heading north, fearing that Hamas, which sparked the war with a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, could use large-scale military action. I requested that I be able to do so. Return to strengthen yourself.
Israel has now agreed to return all Palestinian civilians en masse in the first phase of the deal, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the proposal.
One Israeli official said there would be no tests or restrictions on those returning to the north, while another said there would be few restrictions, without giving details.
It is unclear whether Hamas will accept Israel's offer.
“Our position on the current negotiating text is negative,” Osama Hamdan, a spokesman for the group, said in an interview on Lebanese television on Wednesday night. However, Hamas's news agency later clarified those comments. “A negative position does not mean that negotiations have stopped,” the news agency said. “There are back and forth issues.”
Hamas has long demanded that any deal include a permanent end to the war, which has forced most of the Gaza Strip's more than 2 million residents to flee their homes. One Israeli official said the Israeli proposal does not include language explicitly discussing an end to the fighting.
According to a State Department summary, Mr. Blinken brought up hostages and a cease-fire agreement during his meeting with Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday. He also spoke of the U.S. government's “clear position” on Mr. Rafah, according to the summary. About 1 million civilians have taken shelter there, and U.S. officials say Israel should carry out targeted operations against Hamas leaders and fighters in the city. ing.
Blinken also met with Yair Lapid, the opposition leader in Israel's parliament. Lapid later said in a social media post that Netanyahu had “no political excuse” for not declaring a ceasefire and reaching an agreement to release the hostages. “Every hour counts,” he said.
Increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip was a recurring theme during Mr. Blinken's visit to Israel and, the day before, to Jordan.
On Tuesday night, he visited a warehouse in Jordan. There, trucks were being loaded with food and medical aid destined for the newly opened Erez crossing in northern Gaza. “This is real and important progress,” Blinken said, “but there is still more work to be done.”
The next day, about 30 trucks loaded with supplies from Jordan passed through the intersection. The opening was promised weeks ago, but the Israeli military said it needed to build inspection facilities on both sides of the border and pave the road before the crossing could be used by aid trucks. .
Blinken also visited the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, the southern border crossing between Israel and Gaza, on Wednesday. A flatbed truck loaded with food aid (onions, rice, cooking oil) destined for Gaza was awaiting inspection. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant walked around with Blinken.
Before touring the checkpoint, Mr. Blinken visited an Israeli kibbutz that was one of the sites of an attack by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7. At Kibbutz Nir Oz, they entered a burnt-out house occupied by a family of five, all American citizens. , had been killed.
Israeli airstrikes continued across the border on Wednesday. Gaza's Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that the bodies of 33 people killed in strikes in the past 24 hours had been transferred to local hospitals.