Israel accepts US 'bridging proposal' for ceasefire deal

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken says Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a “bridging proposal” for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, Mr Blinken said a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Mr Netanyahu in Tel Aviv yesterday had been “very constructive” and urged Hamas to also accept the proposals.

- BEL TREW, RACHEL HAGAN, CHRIS STEVENSON

He had warned earlier in the day that the latest Gaza ceasefire talks are “maybe the last opportunity” to secure a hostage release and truce agreement and are a “decisive moment”.

The talks in Qatar, also involving Egypt, paused at the end of last week without a breakthrough, with Hamas casting doubt on the prospects of a deal, but have resumed this week based on what Washington has called a “bridging proposal”.

Mr Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv: “In a very constructive meeting with prime minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it.”

“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators – the United States, Egypt and Qatar – have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement.”

On his ninth trip to the region since the start of the war in Gaza, Mr Blinken has already talked to Israel’s leaders, seeking to get Mr Netanyahu to sign off on a deal. Mr Netanyahu’s office said the three-hour meeting was “held in a good atmosphere” and that Israel backed Washington’s proposal. The secretary of state also met with Israeli president Isaac Herzog.