Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday as the leaders try to iron out a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken’s trip comes at a particularly tumultuous time for Netanyahu politically, as Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s war cabinet, left the government on Sunday.
On his way out, Gantz accused Netanyahu of mismanaging the war and putting his “political survival” above the country’s security.
Gantz had previously said he would leave the government on June 8 if Netanyahu did not come up with a new plan for dealing with post-war Gaza.
With Gantz’s departure, Netanyahu is now more dependent on far-right allies in Israel’s parliament, who have threatened to topple his government if he implements a proposed ceasefire that would free hostages if Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) in Jerusalem on Monday as leaders try to iron out a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas
In a handout photo on Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right)
With no clear public response from Hamas or Israel to the proposal they received 10 days ago, Blinken began his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October, with a meeting with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, a key mediator with the militant Hamas group.
Blinken once again called on Hamas to accept the plan, which he said has broad international support.
“If you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes,” he told reporters before leaving Cairo for the trip that will take him to Israel, Jordan and Qatar.
Blinken said Israel has accepted the proposal, although Netanyahu did not say so directly.
“I know there are people who are pessimistic about the prospects,” Blinken said, placing the responsibility squarely on Hamas. ‘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.”
Blinken said the plan on the table is the “single best way” to reach a ceasefire, release the remaining hostages and improve regional security.
While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other US officials have praised the rescue of the hostages, the operation resulted in the deaths of numerous Palestinian civilians and could complicate the ceasefire by encouraging Israel and strengthening Hamas’s determination to continue fighting in the war that began with the attack on Israel on October 7.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz announced his resignation from the government on Sunday
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was captured Monday as he arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders
“It is difficult to say how Hamas will handle this particular operation and what it will do to its determination to say yes or not,” Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.
“We are hopeful that if there is enough of a choir and the international community all speaks with one voice, Hamas will arrive at the right answer,” Sullivan told ABC’s This Week.
In his talks with el-Sissi, Blinken also discussed plans for post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza, following the massive destruction there.
“It is imperative that there is a plan, and it must address security, governance and reconstruction,” Blinken said.
Netanyahu and his government have resisted calls for a “day after” plan that would prevent Israel from having any kind of 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 government about that,” he 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 ceasefire 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 Israeli forces from Gaza” and “a permanent end to hostilities,” according to an American-drafted resolution submitted to the UN Security Council.
The third phase calls for reconstruction in Gaza.
The Security Council will vote on the resolution on Monday afternoon, welcoming the proposal and urging Hamas to accept it.
But Hamas may not be the only obstacle.
Although the deal has been described as an Israeli initiative and thousands of Israelis have demonstrated in support of it, Netanyahu has expressed his skepticismsaying that what has been publicly presented is not accurate and that Israel remains committed to the destruction of Hamas.
He finds himself in a difficult position politically, as his far-right allies in parliament oppose the proposed ceasefire.
In the wake of last weekend’s hostage rescue, Netanyahu urged Gantz not to resign.
Blinken has met with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Gantz and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on almost all of his previous trips to Israel.
Officials said Blinken is expected to meet with Gantz on Tuesday.
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 this highest level of famine mid-July.
In Jordan, Blinken will participate in an emergency international conference on improving the flow of aid to Gaza.
