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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began crunch talks with senior officials in Israel on Monday in a bid to advance a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal, in what he termed “maybe the last opportunity” to end the fighting and avoid a regional escalation.
Ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken described the current moment as “decisive” and “probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security”.
Blinken was due to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, later in the day as well as defence minister Yoav Gallant.
Blinken’s arrival in Israel comes three days after the US, Qatar and Egypt set out a proposal at talks in Doha aimed at bridging the gaps between Israel and Hamas, and concluding a three-stage deal that aims to end the conflict in Gaza and secure the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages.
While Israeli officials and other people briefed on the talks expressed “cautious optimism” over the weekend, both Netanyahu and Hamas appeared to stiffen their respective positions on Sunday.
Hamas accused Netanyahu of seeking to sabotage the deal and said the proposal put forward by the mediators in Doha contained changes that took account of Israeli demands but not of Hamas’s and “do not allow for reaching an agreement”.
Netanyahu, for his part, has insisted repeatedly that Israel will not withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border region, known as the Philadelphi corridor, along with other demands introduced in recent weeks.
A draft proposal unveiled by US President Joe Biden in late May, which was initially endorsed by Israel, envisaged Israeli forces withdrawing from populated areas of Gaza in the first stage of the agreement and completely in the second stage.
“We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give. There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on. We know how to distinguish between the two very well,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
The long-serving premier later lashed out at what he termed “serial leakers”, following reports in the Israeli media that his position had left him at odds with Israel’s negotiating team and security chiefs, who support the proposed deal.
Blinken on Monday appeared to obliquely refer to Netanyahu amid the increasingly strained ties at the very top of the Israeli government, saying: “It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no.”
Blinken also highlighted the massive US force build-up in the region in recent weeks, after Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hizbollah pledged to retaliate against Israel for the assassinations of two senior militants late last month.
The US and Arab states view an agreement between Israel and Hamas as the best way of preventing the Gaza war from spiralling into a full-blown regional conflict.
“The focus of my visit is intensely on getting the hostages back, getting the ceasefire done,” Blinken said.
“It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line,” he added.
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