TEL AVIV (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged top Israeli officials to accept and implement a plan for postwar Gaza, while pushing for more international pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire proposal recently approved by the UN security agency. Council.
During his latest emergency mission to the Middle East – his eighth since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October – Blinken met with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Galant after talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to push through the proposal, which faces new uncertainty after Israel’s hostage rescue operation that killed many Palestinians and unrest in Netanyahu’s government.
Blinken told Netanyahu that “the United States and other world leaders will stand behind President Biden’s comprehensive proposal that would lead to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and a significant and sustained increase in humanitarian aid for distribution throughout Gaza. Gaza,” the Foreign Ministry said.
After the UN Security Council adopted a US-backed resolution endorsing the ceasefire proposal, Hamas said it welcomed the move and was ready to work with mediators in indirect negotiations with Israel to resolve it to feed. The statement was among Hamas’s strongest yet, but emphasized that the group would continue “our struggle” to end the Israeli occupation and work to establish a “fully sovereign” Palestinian state.
However, the militant group has still not formally responded to the proposal it received ten days ago. Blinken again urged Hamas to accept it, saying it has broad international support and that Israel has accepted it, although Netanyahu has expressed skepticism.
“I know there are people who are pessimistic about the prospects,” Blinken told reporters before leaving Cairo for Israel for the trip that will also take him to Jordan and Qatar. “That is understandable. Hamas continues to demonstrate an extraordinary cynicism in its actions, a disinterest not only in the well-being and security of Israelis but also of Palestinians.”
While Biden, Blinken and other US officials praised the rescue of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the operation has resulted in the deaths of 274 Palestinian civilians and could further complicate the ceasefire push by encouraging Israel and strengthen Hamas’s resolve to continue fighting. the war that started with the October 7 attack on Israel.
In his talks with el-Sissi, Blinken also discussed plans for post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza.
Netanyahu and his government have resisted calls for a “day after” plan that would prevent Israel from having any security presence in the area. Blinken said he would urge Israel to come up with alternatives that are acceptable.
“It would be very good if Israel would put forward its own ideas on this, and I will talk to the administration about that,” Blinken said. “But somehow we have to have these plans, we have to have them ready, we have to be ready to go if we want to benefit from a ceasefire.”
The three-phase plan calls for the release of more hostages and a temporary pause in hostilities that will last as long as necessary to negotiate the second phase, which aims to secure the release of all hostages, a “complete withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from Israel’. Gaza” and “a permanent end to hostilities,” according to the American-drafted resolution submitted to the UN Security Council. The third phase calls for reconstruction in Gaza.
Although the deal has been described as an Israeli initiative and thousands of Israelis have shown support for it, Netanyahu has been skeptical, saying that what has been publicly presented is not correct and that Israel remains committed to destroying Hamas.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies have threatened to topple his government if he implements the plan. Benny Gantz, a popular centrist, resigned from the three-member War Cabinet on Sunday after saying he would do so if the prime minister did not formulate a new plan for post-war Gaza.
Blinken has met with Netanyahu, Gallant, Gantz and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on almost all of his previous trips to Israel. Officials said Blinken is expected to meet Tuesday with Gantz, whom Netanyahu had urged not to resign in the wake of the hostage rescue.
Despite Blinken’s roughly once-monthly visits to the region since the war began, the conflict has continued with more than 37,120 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its counts . Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage in the Oct. 7 attack.
The war has severely hampered the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians in Gaza, who are facing widespread hunger. UN agencies say more than 1 million people in the area could experience the highest levels of famine by mid-July.
In Jordan, Blinken will participate in an emergency international conference on improving the flow of aid to Gaza.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
