US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with key Israeli opposition leaders as the United States continues to push for a truce agreement in Gaza.
Blinken held talks with Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid in Israel on Tuesday before traveling to Jordan to attend an international Gaza aid conference.
In his meeting with Gantz, Blinken blamed Hamas for the failure to reach a truce agreement.
“They discussed the proposal to reach a ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage agreement that would guarantee the release of all hostages and increase humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza,” the State Department said in a statement describing the meeting.
Gantz, who resigned from Israel’s war cabinet and joined the opposition on Sunday, is seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main internal rival.
It is rare for the top US diplomat to meet opposition figures on foreign trips, although he has met Gantz and Lapid on several previous visits to Israel.
Tuesday’s talks come as the Biden administration expresses growing frustration with Netanyahu over his policies in Gaza.
In March, senior US officials – including Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris – also met with Gantz in Washington, DC, in what was seen by some analysts as a message to Netanyahu.
US authorities have been pressuring Netanyahu’s government to present a post-conflict plan for Gaza, without success.
After months of opposition to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the US says it is trying to end the war.
US President Joe Biden unveiled a multifaceted American proposal last month, saying it would bring a “lasting” end to the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians.
Although US officials have repeatedly stated that Hamas is the “only” obstacle to the deal, Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war in Gaza until the Palestinian group is eliminated.
Blinken, who met with Netanyahu on Monday night in Jerusalem, told reporters on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister reaffirmed his support for the US-backed ceasefire proposal.
Netanyahu has not publicly said he accepts the truce proposal, while other members of his right-wing cabinet have openly rejected it and threatened to overthrow the government if the agreement is adopted.
Hamas said it is dealing “positively and constructively” with the proposal, while demanding explicit commitments from Israel to a lasting ceasefire.
The Palestinian group affirms its non-negotiable position that it will not agree to anything that does not lead to a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and permanently end the offensive in the territory.
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for an “immediate, full and complete ceasefire” based on the US plan.
The proposal includes three phases, starting with a six-week truce that sees the exchange of some Israeli prisoners in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. This pause may be renewed to allow negotiations on the next phase.
The second phase would include the return of all captives and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The final phase would include the beginning of reconstruction efforts in the territory.
Hamas welcomed Monday’s Security Council ceasefire resolution. “Hamas emphasizes its willingness to cooperate with mediators to engage in indirect negotiations on the implementation of these principles that are consistent with the demands of our people and the resistance,” the group said in a statement.
However, at the aid conference in Jordan on Tuesday, Blinken once again called on countries in the region to pressure Hamas to accept the plan.
The top US diplomat highlighted the carnage and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, announcing $404 million in new aid to Palestinians.
“Most of Gaza’s sanitation system has been destroyed. Fewer than a dozen of Gaza’s 40 hospitals are open. And as we know and have heard, more than 270 aid workers have been killed,” Blinken said.
Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Blinken’s comments were “surrealistic”.
“There is something surreal about listening to an American [secretary of state] recounting the disaster that Gaza has become – the destruction of hospitals and schools, the death of people, entire families – as if they hadn’t been killed by American munitions,” Bishara said, “as if the United States hadn’t blocked every attempt of an immediate and permanent ceasefire for the past eight months.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
