“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it,” Blinken said during a press conference from the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.”
But Hamas has generally rejected the statements coming out of the ceasefire talks over the past few weeks. The group stressed it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal laid out on July 2, but it accused Netanyahu of putting up new conditions that made it impossible for it to accept.
Among Hamas’s demands are agreement on a permanent ceasefire and comprehensive withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the besieged enclave.
Blinken raised doubts about Hamas’s public statements and apparent rejections of where ceasefire talks currently stand.
“We’ve seen public statements before that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is,” Blinken added.
“The critical next step is for Hamas to accept the bridging proposal that Prime Minister Netanyahu has now accepted, and then to engage with everyone else on making sure that we have clear understandings of how each party would actually implement the commitments that it’s undertaken in this agreement.”
The terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas are generally laid out to begin with a six-week truce that would require Hamas to release hostages it kidnapped from Israel on Oct. 7 during its attack and for Tel Aviv to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
During this time, the US and partners are expected to dramatically scale up delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian’s in the Gaza Strip. Throughout the six-week truce, the US, Qatar and Egypt are expected to mediate more negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a permanent end to the war.
Blinken stated there is a “real sense of urgency” in Israel and across the region for the need to get the ceasefire deal across the finish line, as fighting has escalated across multiple fronts.
Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade rocket fire over Lebanon’s southern border, as a broader Iranian attack against Israel looms — in retaliation for the assassination of top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
The US has dispatched significant military resources to the Middle East to help defend Israel in case of an Iranian attack, with Blinken warning Monday against all parties from taking actions that would escalate conflict.
“What’s most crucial now is that everyone,” he paused and stressed again, “everyone, refrain from taking any actions that could fuel further conflict, escalate tensions and result in the spreading of violence and conflict.”
