Blinken presses new Gaza plan in calls with Saudi, Jordan, Turkey FMs

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press confernece. File photo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought on Friday to press Hamas to accept a new Gaza ceasefire plan in talks with the top diplomats of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

In telephone calls from his plane as he returned from a NATO meeting in Prague, Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should accept the deal without delay,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Blinken “underscored that the proposal is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the long-term security of the region,” Miller said.

US President Joe Biden earlier announced the surprise proposal which would begin with a six-week complete ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from populated areas of Gaza.

Hamas, which triggered the war with its October 7 attack on Israel, would in return release hostages.

The two sides would then negotiate a longer-term deal aimed at ending the war. Biden said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the deal.

Hamas was informed of the proposal through Qatar, a key mediator which maintains relations both with the Palestinian group Hamas and the United States.

Blinken in his shuttle diplomacy in the region has invested time in involving Saudi Arabia, hoping that the prospect of Israel normalising relations with the kingdom — guardian of Islam’s two holiest shrines — will encourage moderation in Netanyahu’s far-right government.

Turkey is also a NATO ally and one of the few Muslim-majority nations with ties with Israel.

Jordan is a key US partner in the region which is especially sensitive to the war due to its large Palestinian population and its own relations with Israel.

Blinken had met just one day earlier in Prague with the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a virulent critic of Israel, has met Hamas leaders and welcomed Hamas members for medical treatment.

But Turkey is also a NATO ally and one of the few Muslim-majority nations with ties with Israel.

Hamas’s October attack resulted in the death of 1,189 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Out of 252 people taken hostage that day, 121 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 37 who the army says are dead.

More than 36,280 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, 294 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.

Agence France-Presse