After assembly Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Blinken mentioned Hamas was the one facet that had but to comply with Biden’s proposal, which Washington says already had Israel’s backing earlier than US President Biden introduced it on May 31.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Hamas on Monday for holding up a ceasefire in Gaza, as the highest US diplomat carried out a Middle East peace mission to ship President Joe Biden’s newest proposed plan to finish the Gaza battle.
After assembly Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Blinken mentioned Hamas was the one facet that had but to comply with Biden’s proposal, which Washington says already had Israel’s backing earlier than Biden introduced it on May 31. Washington says its proposal envisions a ceasefire in phases, in the end resulting in a everlasting finish to the battle. But Israel nonetheless says it’ll agree solely to momentary pauses till Hamas is defeated, whereas Hamas says it is not going to settle for a truce with out ensures that the battle will finish.
“My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region, is – if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say ‘yes’,” Blinken informed reporters earlier than leaving for Israel the place he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri informed Reuters, that Blinken’s feedback have been “an example of bias toward Israel and it offers American cover to the holocaust conducted by the occupation in Gaza”.
In his talks with Netanyahu on Monday night, the US State Department mentioned Blinken had emphasised the significance of a post-war plan in Gaza in addition to the necessity to stop the battle from spreading. The battle has now entered its ninth month since Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 folks and took some 250 others hostage in a rampage via southern Israel. Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has killed greater than 37,000 Palestinians and diminished most of the enclave to the wasteland.
Ahead of Blinken’s journey, his eighth to the area because the begin of the battle, Israel and Hamas each doubled down on hardline positions which have scuppered all earlier makes an attempt to finish the preventing. At the identical time, Israel has pressed on with assaults in central and southern Gaza, among the many bloodiest of the battle. “We are committed to total victory,” Netanyahu mentioned in a press release launched by his workplace, quoting remarks he made on Sunday to relations of Israelis killed in Gaza. He mentioned he would reject a Hamas demand to “commit to stopping the war without achieving our goals of eliminating Hamas”.
Hamas and its allies Islamic Jihad mentioned in a joint assertion: “Any agreement must ensure a permanent end to the aggression and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, lifting the blockade and a serious swap deal.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA workers and is revealed from Reuters)
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