Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Monday afternoon that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed at their previous meeting that he supports and will accept the US-backed bridging proposal that emerged after meetings in the region last week, and that Israel would send negotiators.
“It is now up to Hamas to do the same,” Blinken told reporters on his ninth trip to the region since Oct. 7. “And then, the parties, with the help of the mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — must come together and complete the process of reaching clear agreements on how they will implement the commitments that they have made under this agreement. But the next important step is to Hamas says yes.
Protesters carry placards and chant slogans during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since the October 7 attacks in Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Blinken acknowledged that the “complex issues” would still “require difficult decisions by the leaders,” but said he still felt “a real sense of urgency here, across the region, about the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible.”
But given Hamas’ reluctance to participate in the latest round of negotiations, the secretary was pressed on whether there was any real hope the militant group would sign off on the proposal.
A man holds an Israeli national flag, a picture of a hostage and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as people demonstrate amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 17, 2024.
Florion Goga/Reuters
“Tomorrow, when I see the leaders of both Egypt and Qatar, I will get an update from them on what they are hearing,” he replied. “I can’t speculate on exactly what Hamas’ intentions are. We’ve seen public statements, but we’ve seen public statements in the past that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is.”
Blinken will then travel to Qatar after visiting Egypt on Tuesday, he said.
-ABC News Shannon K. Kingston