U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has warned that the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire deal was probably the best and possibly 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 quoted as saying this during a meeting with the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Blinken said that President Joe Biden had sent him to Israel “to get this agreement to the line and ultimately over the line.”
“It is time for it to get done,” the top US Diplomat averred.
“It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process.
“We’re working 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, or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places, and to greater intensity.”
Antony Blinken
The visiting Secretary of state said that it was a “fraught moment” in Israel and warned against any moves that could heighten regional tensions, following threats from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to avenge the recent killings of two militant leaders.
On his part, Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role, emphasized that Israelis wanted to see the return “as soon as possible” of hostages still held in Gaza since the 7 October attack that triggered the war.
Herzog denounced “the refusal of Hamas to move forward.”
The Israeli President posted pictures of himself with Blinken on social media platform, X and stated that he had thanked Blinken “for the important efforts of the U.S., along with the other mediators, to bring our hostages back home”.
“I reiterated that there is no greater global humanitarian cause than returning our hostages to their families,” Herzog noted, adding, “Side by side with ensuring Israel’s right to self-defense.”
“The State of Israel is surrounded and threatened by terror on different fronts, but at the same time, it is also surrounded and supported by allies and friends, chief among them the United States of America.”
Isaac Herzog
He thanked the Biden administration for leading a coalition “to project and deploy power to ensure regional stability and Israel’s right to protect itself.”
Later, the US Secretary of state met with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Blinken is due to travel on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, to Cairo where ceasefire talks are expected to resume this week.
Israeli Opposition Leader Urges Netanyahu To Accept Ceasefire Deal
Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to miss the chance to reach a ceasefire agreement in the ongoing talks with Hamas on the war in Gaza in order to return Israeli captives.
“When the US Secretary of State says this morning, ‘Maybe this is the last chance for a deal’, this is an appeal to Netanyahu,” Lapid wrote on X.
“Don’t miss this opportunity, you abandoned them. It’s your duty to return them. If they don’t come back, we can’t heal.”
Yair Lapid
Jordan, hostage supporters protesting in Israel, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Netanyahu in order for an agreement to be reached.
Hamas said in a statement that Netanyahu was “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators.”
According to Hamas, the proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions, especially his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing to occupy the Netzarim junction, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi corridor.”
The Palestinian movement added that Netanyahu “also set new conditions in the prisoner exchange file and retreated from other items, which prevents the completion of the exchange deal.”
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