The U.S Secretary of state, who is in Cairo for a meeting with Egypt’s President, Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, has urged regional leaders to press Hamas to agree to a US-announced ceasefire proposal.
Antony Blinken said, “My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region, is if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say ‘yes’.”
“If you want to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, press Hamas to say ‘yes’. If you want to get all the hostages home, press Hamas to say ‘yes’. If you want to put Israelis and Palestinians alike on the path to more durable peace and security, press Hamas to say ‘yes’.”
Antony Blinken
Blinken said that Israel has already agreed to a three-stage ceasefire and captive exchange and Hamas is the only barrier to finalising it.
However, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have given mixed messages about the proposal with Netanyahu saying any deal must still allow Israel to root out Hamas.
Separately, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood claimed that Israel accepted the US proposal for a three-phase deal between Hamas and Israel.
This came hours before the UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution put forward by the United States calling for Hamas to accept the deal.
“This proposal is the best opportunity we have right now, to bring at least a temporary halt to this fighting to be able to get more assistance in, get hostages released, and all the other things are included in the proposal. So we want to work hard to get that done.”
Robert Wood
“We want to put pressure on Hamas to accept this deal. So far, it hasn’t accepted this deal,” Wood stated.
When prompted by a journalist who said that Israel has not formally accepted the proposal, either, Wood answered, “Israel’s accepted the deal. It’s Hamas. Hamas needs to accept this deal.”
During his meeting with Abdul Fattah el-Sisi to discuss an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, Blinken “underscored the urgent need to reopen the Rafah border crossing” with Egypt because the lack of food, fuel and medicine threatens Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
However, Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri noted that the U.S Secretary of state’s comments on the Gaza ceasefire proposal show “bias toward Israel.”
“Blinken’s speech during his visit to Egypt … offers an American cover to the holocaust conducted by the occupation in Gaza,” he told a news agency.
U.S, Egypt Have Identical Roadmaps
Meanwhile, Hussein Haridi, former Egyptian assistant Foreign Minister, told a news agency that Egypt and the US have identical roadmaps for ending Israel’s war on Gaza.
“We look forward to coordinate with the United States in order to move ahead and bring this war to an end because the bottom line is that this war in Gaza must come to an end,” he said after Blinken’s visit to Cairo.
“That is the conclusion of President Biden, … and it is identical with the Egyptian position,” he added.
Haridi also said, “Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians nor the Middle Eastern countries can pay the high price of this war continuing like we have been witnessing lately.”
“The objectives of the American roadmap – the release of hostages, surging humanitarian aid to Gaza and then a permanent ceasefire, accompanied with a complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces in Gaza – these are the aims that are shared by Egypt,” he concluded.
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