The United States will present a new Gaza-hostages-for-terrorists-release-and-ceasefire proposal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in London on Tuesday with his British counterpart David Lammy.
Saying that the Biden administration is determined to achieve a truce in Gaza “as soon as possible,” the American diplomat stressed in opening remarks that “the quickest way to do so remains bringing the ceasefire agreement over the finish line.”
Asked by a reporter later about the status of the potential deal, Blinken answered that “more than 90% of the issues have been agreed, decided. So we’re down to a handful of issues, not even a handful of issues, that are hard but fully resolvable in our judgement. And as we’ve said before, when you get down to the last 10%, the last 10 meters, those are almost by definition the hardest ground to cover, but we believe that these are fully resolvable.
“Right now, we are working with our Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to work together to bridge any remaining gaps, and in the coming time very soon we’ll put that before the parties and we’ll see what they say.”
The optimistic comments come amid pessimism expressed in recent days by American and Israeli mediators about the prospects of reaching an agreement.
The U.S. has publicly blamed the Hamas terrorist group for holding up the deal, with White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby saying on Monday that “Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.”
However, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Tuesday that Cairo and Doha “think the opposite” and accuse Jerusalem of being responsible for the deadlock.
Underscoring the seriousness of this disagreement with the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have “considered issuing a joint statement blaming Israel for the failure of the contacts,” according to the television outlet.
The report said however that Qatar and Egypt have no real leverage over Hamas.
According to the report, while the IDF has cut off Hamas’s smuggling routes from Egypt through the Philadelphi Corridor, the terrorist group is massively profiting from the humanitarian aid pouring into Gaza. The report cites an estimate that the terrorist group has earned at least $500 million by stealing and selling the aid that comes into the Strip in some 200 trucks per day.
Hamas, according to the report, uses the money to recruit gunmen, with 3,000 new ones in northern Gaza, where the TV channel’s Arab affairs analyst Ohad Hemo said that the Islamist group has reestablished “full governance” and resumed paying the salaries of some officials.
Meanwhile, some of the families of the remaining 101 hostages in the Gaza Strip are mobilizing in support of a unity government to seal a hostage deal.
The relatives held meetings with lawmakers from both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition and opposition parties.
On Monday, President Isaac Herzog said that the “political system must come together with all its might” to bring the abductees home.
Family members with hostages in Gaza were in Paris on Tuesday, where they met with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The Qatari leader then met privately for three hours with National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz.
“We discussed the urgent humanitarian need to advance a hostage deal, and ways in which regional stability can be promoted,” Gantz tweeted after the meeting.
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder was also present at the meeting with the families of the hostages.
