Blinken says ‘a lot of work’ remains on Israel-Hamas truce talks
Al Jazeera
US secretary of state meets Israeli officials as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to reject Hamas plan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said “a lot” of work remained to secure a deal on an extended truce in Israel’s war on Gaza and a captive-prisoner exchange after the Palestinian group Hamas responded to a truce proposal with its own plan.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but we are very much focused on doing that work, and hopefully being able to resume releasing hostages that was interrupted,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday at the start of a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The top United States diplomat earlier met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discussed a Hamas counterproposal to a truce plan drawn up by US and Israeli spy chiefs and delivered to the Palestinian group last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Hamas laid out a detailed three-phase plan to unfold over four and a half months. The plan stipulates that all hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including senior fighters, and an end to the war.
Later on Wednesday, Netanyahu appeared to reject the Hamas plan, promising Israel would continue its military assault on Gaza until “absolute victory”.
