Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza. He called on Hamas to do the same.
Blinken on Tuesday was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began more than 10 months ago. He did not say whether the "bridging proposal" addressed concerns cited by Hamas.
Even if the militant group accepts the proposal, negotiators will spend the coming days working on "clear understandings on implementing the agreement," Blinken said. He said there are still "complex issues" requiring "hard decisions by the leaders," without offering specifics.
Blinken is traveling to Egypt and Qatar on Tuesday for further negotiations after meetings in Israel on Monday.
His visit came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was close. His trip also came amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 'Accomplic to Terrorism'
From the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan attacked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, accusing him of being "an accomplice to terrorism" and calling for his resignation.
Now, Israel has a new ambassador, and the U.N. chief is calling for "a constructive dialogue."
However, Danny Danon, who served as Israel’s U.N. ambassador from 2015-2020 and presented his credentials to the secretary-general on Monday, made clear he would be following in Erdan’s footsteps when it comes to Israel’s views about the United Nations.
Danon said he's returning to the U.N. at a time of "immense challenges" for Israel and its people, saying 115 Israelis are still being held hostage in Gaza and face "ongoing atrocities and suffering."
"I am committed to represent my country to show the real face of Israel, and to push back the lies and the hypocrisy that we unfortunately have to deal with here at this building," he said.
Neither the U.N. Security Council nor the General Assembly have condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people and triggered the war, though Guterres has repeatedly called for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages. He has also criticized the killing of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, mainly in Israeli airstrikes, as well as Israel's obstruction to humanitarian aid deliveries.
For his part, Guterres said that "for the U.N., it is extremely important to have an objective relationship with Israel."
"We have different points of view in many aspects in relation to the two-state solution, in relation to what has been happening recently," Guterres said, "but that doesn’t mean that we should not have a constructive dialogue based on truth."
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