US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire as he pushes Hamas to accept a deal.
Blinken, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, will afterwards head to Qatar which, along with Egypt, is brokering negotiations for a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict.
His departure from Tel Aviv came as an Israeli kibbutz community announced the death in captivity in Gaza of 79-year-old hostage Avraham Munder, underlining the urgency of a truce and hostage release deal.
At the Doha negotiations, the United States presented proposals to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas and seal the May 31 ceasefire blueprint laid out by President Joe Biden, who has faced growing domestic criticism over the war.
Blinken said on Monday that Israel has accepted the US proposal and that he would speak to Egypt and Qatar to gauge the reaction of Hamas.
He also said that the ceasefire proposal could be the “last chance” as he raised pressure for a deal.
Blinken played down a public rejection by Hamas of the modifications in the latest proposal and said Israel was ready to send a delegation to new talks later this week, which the United States previously said would take place in Cairo.
However, a series of reports say that Israel has raised new conditions in recent talks, including insisting on control of the Gaza border with Egypt that Israel seized from Hamas.
With AFP
