This is US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s ninth trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began last October. More than 40,000 Palestinians have died in that time and a solution to the conflict does not appear simple, but the United States is trying to engineer a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that will at least bring an end to hostilities and the release of the roughly 100 hostages who remain kidnapped before the November 5 presidential elections.
In a meeting lasting more than three hours in Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed to Blinken “Israel's commitment to the latest proposal.” [de acuerdo] “on the release of the hostages, which takes into account Israel's security needs,” on which the prime minister “remains firm,” according to a statement from his office, which did not provide further details. It is precisely Netanyahu's “firmness” on these needs – seen as inflexibility by Hamas and others – that has been singled out so far as one of the main obstacles to reaching an agreement.