Blinken, on Mideast tour, urges Hamas to accept the ceasefire deal
CAIRO — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal outlined by Washington to end the Gaza war, a plan that the United Nations Security Council voted to support.
On his eighth trip to the Middle East since the war started, the top U.S. diplomat called on countries in the region to pressure the Palestinian militant group to approve the draft. The U.S. has said Israel has accepted it although Israeli officials have not formally announced this.
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“My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region, is – if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say ‘yes’,” Blinken told reporters in Cairo.
U.S. President Joe Biden outlined the truce accord last month and it envisions a ceasefire in stages, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the war. But Israel has said it will agree only to temporary pauses until Hamas is defeated, while Hamas has countered it will not accept a deal that does not guarantee the war will end.
With the conflict in its ninth month, the plan got further backing on Monday from the United Nations where 14 members of the Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution in favour of the proposal while Russia abstained.
Hamas welcomed the U.N. Security Council resolution and said it was ready to cooperate with mediators on implementing the plan. Earlier, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters Blinken’s comments were “an example of bias toward Israel”.
Blinken left Cairo for Israel where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant separately. Blinken emphasised to Netanyahu the importance of a post-war plan for Gaza as well as the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
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ASSAULTS IN GAZA
In Rafah, the city on the southern edge of Gaza where Israel launched an offensive last month, residents said on Monday tanks pressed north in the early hours of the morning. They were on the edge of Shaboura, a densely populated neighbourhood at the heart of the city.
Since last week, Israel has also launched a large assault in the central Gaza Strip. On Monday, residents said the Israelis had pulled back from some areas there but were keeping up air strikes and shelling.
