Hamas has until tonight to respond to the proposal for a 40-day ceasefire in Gaza. It was the deadline given by Israel, but with or without an agreement, the Israeli Prime Minister says that the offensive in Rafah will actually happen.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given assurances that he will maintain the war and advance the offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
US determined to get Israel-Hamas deal “now”
The United States is determined that Israel and Hamas reach a truce agreement “now”, associated with the release of hostages, after almost seven months of fighting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today.
“Even in these difficult times, we are determined to achieve a ceasefire that brings the hostages home and to achieve it now. And the only reason that doesn’t happen is Hamas,” Blinken said in Tel Aviv, in a meeting with the President Israelite Isaac Herzog.
The mediators – Egypt, Qatar and the United States – were still waiting today for Hamas to respond to the latest version of a truce proposal, which provides for the suspension of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip and the release of Palestinian detainees in exchange for the release of the hostages. kidnapped by the Palestinian movement on October 7th, in the attack in southern Israel.
On Tuesday, Blinken had already urged Hamas to accept “without further delay” this “extraordinarily generous” Israeli proposal.
Hamas demands a “permanent” ceasefire before any agreement on the release of the hostages, something that Israel has always refused until now, continuing to insist on its determination to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, a city in the south of the Strip of Gaza, considered the last local stronghold of Hamas and where 1.5 million Palestinians are currently located, the majority of whom have been displaced by the war.
During his visit to Israel, Blinken is also expected to pressure the Israeli Government to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations warns of imminent famine due to food shortages.
Blinken meets with Netanyahu
Today, the US Secretary of State is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visit Ashdod, an Israeli port near Gaza that was recently reopened to allow the delivery of aid.
“We also have to worry about the people who are suffering, caught in the crossfire,” Blinken told Herzog.
The Gaza attack on Israel on October 7 caused the deaths of 1,170 people, according to a report by the French agency AFP based on official Israeli data. Israel’s retaliatory military operation in the Gaza Strip caused 34,535 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.
