Mr Blinken said Washington was doing everything possible to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas. It comes after Mr Blinken said Israel had accepted the latest proposal to end the 10-month-old war while Hamas said it veered too close to Israel’s demands.
“The deal needs to get done and it needs to get done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line,” Mr Blinken said. The plan would involve an initial six-week ceasefire, during which a limited number of female, elderly and sick Israeli hostages would be freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
It would be indefinitely extendable while negotiators settled the second stage, in which soldiers and bodies would be returned, Israeli troops would begin to withdraw from Gaza and displaced Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their homes in the north of the strip. But one of the main sticking points to an agreement has been Hamas’s longstanding demand for a “complete” withdrawal of Israeli troops from all parts of Gaza, which Israel has reportedly rejected.
This story is from the August 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the August 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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