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Blinken confirms Israel agrees to hostage deal, says it’s Hamas’ turn to say ‘yes’

Blinken did not state whether the US ‘bridging’ proposal includes Israel’s demands, such as an IDF presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, that Hamas has rejected.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that Israel has accepted the updated hostage and ceasefire proposal designed to bridge the gaps between both sides and that now it’s up to Hamas also to agree.

He told reporters, “In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal. The next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes.’”

Blinken did not state whether the US ‘bridging’ proposal included Israel’s demand to have an IDF presence in Rafah, the Philadelphia Corridor, and Netzarim, a non-starter for Hamas, which previously has demanded a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.

Blinken announced after a 2-and-a-half-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday following the news of Hamas’s rejection of the hostage deal on Sunday night.

The US considers the ceasefire-hostage deal not only a resolution to the 10-month-old Gaza war but also a means to prevent a wider conflict in the region, given threats by Hezbollah and Iran against Israel.

Blinken added, “This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.”

Read  Hamas rejects proposal that would give them 'safe passage' in exchange for hostages

He continued, “It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process,” he said in a veiled reference to Iran.

Blinken explained, “So we’re working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and greater intensity.”

Netanyahu told his cabinet on Monday that, regarding negotiations, Israel can be flexible but will not accept certain conditions.

“We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” he said.