Blinken says Israel agrees to US-backed ceasefire proposal - but Hamas needs to say yes
International Editor Emma Murphy reports from Beirut as the USA's top diplomat made another visit to Israel, with the Middle East facing the prospect of an all-out regional war
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Israel has agreed to a ceasefire proposal backed by the United States - and is calling on Hamas to do the same.
Mr Blinken made the announcement on Monday after holding a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier that day.
The USA's top diplomat is now expected to travel to Egypt on Tuesday, after the country has spent months mediating ceasefire talks along with the United States and Qatar.
Exact details of the discussions are unknown, and it is uncertain whether the so-called bridging proposal has addressed Israel's demands for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which Hamas has previously said is a non-starter.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal," Mr Blinken told reporters. “The next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes.’"
US President Joe Biden laid out his "road map" to a lasting truce and freedom for hostages on May 31.
That proposal involved three phases - first, a return of a number of hostages and a "full and complete" ceasefire, which would allow for the negotiation of phase two. In that second phase all remaining living hostages would be released, and Israel would fully withdraw from Israel, making the temporary ceasefire permanent.
The third phase would then focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, which UN officials have estimated would take until at least 2040.
Mr Blinken's ninth trip to the Middle East since the conflict came after mediators expressed renewed optimism that a deal was near and it was just a matter of tweaking "details".
But Hamas has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the latest proposal, and Israel has said there were points on which it was unwilling to compromise.
Speaking from Qatar, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, told ITV News Hamas had agreed to American proposals in June this year, but that changes to those proposals now make them impossible to agree to.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to local health authorities.
Israel’s attacks have wounded 92,401 people and displaced 85% of the population, according to the ministry, although the figures do not differentiate between civilians and militants.
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