Blinken Returns To The Middle East As Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Proposal Hangs In Balance
HuffPost
The dramatic rescue operation of four Israeli hostages resulted in the deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians and may complicate the cease-fire push.
CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Middle East on Monday as a proposed Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal hangs in the balance after the dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza in a major military raid and turmoil in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
With no firm response yet from Hamas to the proposal received 10 days ago, Blinken started his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October by meeting with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, a key mediator with Hamas.
Blinken once again called on Hamas to accept the plan, which he said has wide international support and has been accepted by Israel. “If you want a cease-fire, press Hamas to say ‘yes,’” he told reporters before leaving Cairo on the trip that will take him to Israel, Jordan and Qatar.
He said the plan on the table is the “single best way” to get to a cease-fire, release the remaining hostages and improve regional security.
While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other U.S. officials have praised the hostage rescue, the operation resulted in the deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians and may complicate the cease-fire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas’ resolve to carry on fighting in the war it initiated with its Oct. 7 attack into Israel.
