Arab nations should encourage Hamas to accept a truce proposal, according to Blinken.
The US Secretary of State, Blinken, strongly believes that the majority of people in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip desire a peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. He also claimed this in his recent meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, in Cairo. Their conversation focused on "joint efforts to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners."
Blinken described the conversation with al-Sisi as going "very well" and is pertinent that "we assist the Palestinians who are trusting us." This trip to the Middle East is Blinken's eighth time visiting the region since the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
After his meeting in Cairo, Blinken's journey took him to Jerusalem, where he was to meet with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Benny Gantz on Monday. Interestingly, Gantz had resigned from the war cabinet the day before.
Blinken plans to visit Jordan and Qatar before completing his mission on Wednesday. In Jordan, he will participate in a United Nations-supported conference on humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have been working as mediators to reach a deal between Israel and Hamas for months but haven't seen any success. However, during a one-week ceasefire in late November, around a hundred hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in their only mediation attempt.
In a recent effort to restart the negotiations, Joe Biden, the US President, presented a new three-step plan from Israel. This offer entails a complete weapons truce, "with Israeli forces withdrawing from all populated areas of the Gaza Strip, and the release of a series of hostages," in return for freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Regrettably, to date, no response has been received from Hamas concerning this proposal.
