For his ninth trip to the region since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement, Antony Blinken met for three hours with Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Minister Defense attorney Yoav Gallant and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the compromise plan. He supports it,” he said. “Now it's up to Hamas to do the same. »
Israel and Hamas have said for weeks that they support the three-phase plan proposed in late May by US President Joe Biden. But Hamas is now accusing Israel of adding “new conditions” which it says were imposed by “American dictates”.
“clear agreement”
“What I would say to Hamas and its leadership is that if they really care about the Palestinian people they claim to represent, then they need to say yes to this deal and work towards a clear understanding on how to implement it. Antony Blinken continued. “The only fastest, best and most effective way to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinians caused by the October 7 Hamas attack and the war that followed is to carry out this agreement,” he insisted.
Following international condemnation following Thursday night's announcement that a Palestinian had been shot dead during an attack by Jewish settlers on his village in the northern occupied West Bank, Antony Blinken also said he had called on Israeli leaders to act against the violence. . “We expect to see action, action to prevent this type of violence, action to hold those responsible accountable,” he said.
Netanyahu wants release of “maximum number of hostages alive”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he wanted the release of “the maximum number of hostages alive” in the first phase of the US plan. “I would like to emphasize the efforts to release as many hostages alive as possible from the first phase of the agreement,” he said in a video broadcast after his meeting with the US secretary of state. The plan proposed at the end of May by US President Joe Biden initially envisages a six-week truce, accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from the densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a certain number of the 111 hostages kidnapped on October 7. during the Hamas attack in Israel and still held in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu said he “can't be flexible” on certain points and advocated “negotiations, not an exchange where we just give and get nothing.”