US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Israel has agreed to a "bridging proposal" in a peace deal he's proposed.
ADVERTISEMENTUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Israel has agreed to a "bridging proposal" in a peace deal he's proposed.
The "bridging proposal" element of the deal would hold up a ceasefire and release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza — but Hamas has yet to agree or respond to it.
Blinken has not said whether the deal addresses the concerns raised by the Islamic militant group that runs Gaza — and neither did he say how it addressed Israel's demands.
Blinken reached the agreement after a 2.5-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day and is expected to travel to Egypt on Tuesday.
Egypt has played a key role along with Qatar and the US in managing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Talks, which have continued for months, previously stalled.
Israel has previously insisted on controlling two strategic corridors inside Gaza, which Hamas has previously refused.
Blinken's ninth mission to the Middle East since the conflict began came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed optimism that a ceasefire deal was near.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said as he opened talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.
Herzog thanked Blinken for the Biden administration's support for Israel and lamented a spate of recent attacks against Israelis in the past 24 hours.
“This is the way we are living these days,” Herzog said. “We are surrounded by terrorism from all four corners of the earth and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation.”
Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed ceasefire — Egypt, Qatar and the US — reported progress on a deal under which Israel would halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages.
The proposal, which has evolved several times, has called for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its 7 October attack.
In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.
The UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees in Gaza posted on Monday that 70% of the schools in the enclave have now been damaged or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
An Israeli delegation held talks with Egyptian officials as part of the truce efforts, an Egyptian official said on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENTThe hours-long meeting held on Sunday focused on the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border but didn’t achieve a breakthrough, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.
The official said that Israel still insisted on keeping control of the border and the east-west route that bisects Gaza. He said that the delegation didn’t offer anything new in their meeting.
Mediators will meet again this week in Cairo to try to cement a cease-fire. Blinken will travel to Egypt on Tuesday for meetings in the Mediterranean city of el-Alamein after he wraps up his Israel stop.
Fears persist of a widening Middle East conflict
Blinken's trip comes amid fears that the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the death of two top Hamas militants in Lebanon and Iran, which were blamed on Israel.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least three Israeli airstrikes hit towns in the Baalbek district of Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley Monday night, Lebanese state media reported.
Videos from the scene showed a large fire and multiple explosions following the initial strike.
A similar scene took place last month after an Israeli airstrike on the southern coastal village of Adloun hit an arms depot, setting off a series of explosions that hit nearby villages with shrapnel.
Israeli military officials and a spokesperson for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday’s strike.
ADVERTISEMENTHezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing since 8 October, the day after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah’s ally, Hamas.
On Monday evening, there were reports of Israeli air strikes on a suspected Hezbollah arms depot in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.