After a first stage in Egypt and a meeting with President Abdel Fatah al Sisi, Blinken arrived at Tel Aviv airport from where he headed to Jerusalem. The meeting with Netanyahu In this city it lasted about two hours.
The head of American diplomacy stressed to the Israeli leader that “the proposal on the table would open the way to calm along Israel’s northern border” with Lebanon already “deeper integration” of Israel “with the countries of the region”according to the State Department.
In NY, the Security Council of the UN adopted a resolution supporting the proposal of a ceasefire in Gaza.
The text, which It had 14 votes in favor and Russia abstained“welcomes” the truce and hostage release proposal announced by President Joe Biden on May 31.
Also call Israel already Hamas to “fully implement its terms, without delay and without conditions.”
Hamas welcomed the Security Council’s support for a truce with Israel
He Islamist movement welcomed the support of the Council and stressed in a statement that he wanted to “reaffirm his willingness to cooperate with the brother mediators to establish talks hints about the application of these principles”.
Hamas He thus referred to his requirements, which include a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territory.
In Cairo, Blinken urged Middle Eastern countries to “put pressure on Hamas” to agree to a ceasefire.
Its aboutThis is the eighth visit of the Secretary of State to the region since the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel on October 7.
Despite efforts, the mediators in the conflict, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, have failed to negotiate a new truce since the week-long ceasefire in November, which allowed the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Joe Biden’s plan for the truce between Israel and Hamas
Biden’s plan, consulted by AFP, contemplates in a first phase a “immediate and complete” ceasefirehe exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners; the withdrawal of the israeli army from the populated areas of Gaza and the humanitarian aid entry.
Still, it is not clear that these peace efforts will prosper, given the open divisions in Netanyahu’s cabinet.
The visit of Blinken occurs one day after the Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, a centrist politician rival to Netanyahu, resigns from the governmentafter having unsuccessfully demanded the adoption of an “action plan” for post-war Gaza.
For Gantz the priority is the release of the hostages. For its part, Netanyahu assures that he will continue the war until the destruction of Hamaswhich has ruled Gaza since 2007 and is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
On Saturday, an operation carried out by Israeli special forces allowed the release of four hostages in the refugee camp of Nuseirat, in the center of Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Red Crescent on Monday accused the Israeli army of having used a humanitarian aid truck to infiltrate the camp, something the armed body rejects.
The Ministry of Health of Loop, ruled by Hamas, He claimed that 274 people were killed and 698 injured in the operation, which he called a “massacre” in a densely populated area of the Palestinian territory. The figure could not be independently verified.
On the ground, the war gives no respite. Israeli operations continued this Monday in the north, center and south of the territory.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, At least 37,124 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since the war broke out on October 7.
That day, commandos Hamas They launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory, killing 1,194 peoplemostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.
In the attack, 251 people were taken hostage, of which 116 remain in Gazaincluding 41 who would have died, according to the Israeli army.
Source: Ambito
