Blinken visits mediators in pursuit of Gaza truce deal

Jerusalem, August 20

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar as he pressed ahead on Tuesday with the latest diplomatic mission to secure a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signalled that challenges remain.

Hamas in a new statement called the latest proposal presented to it a “reversal” of what it agreed to previously and accused the US of acquiescing to what it called “new conditions” from Israel. There was no immediate US response.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, told relatives of hostages in Gaza that a key goal is to “preserve our strategic security assets in the face of great pressures from home and abroad.”

He noted the “capture” of a narrow buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border that Israel calls the Philadelphi corridor. Neither Hamas nor Egypt wants an Israeli presence there.

The meeting came as Israel’s military said it recovered the bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas’ October 7 attack that started the war, bringing fresh grief for many Israelis who have long pressed Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire that would bring remaining hostages home.

Blinken’s meetings in Egypt and upcoming ones in Qatar come a day after he met in Israel with Netanyahu and said the prime minister had accepted a US proposal to bridge gaps separating Israel and Hamas. Blinken called on the militant group to do the same. — AP