Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port Au Prince on 5 September 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool/AFP)
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that 90% of a
Gaza ceasefire deal is agreed upon. - However, critical issues remain, including the
Philadelphi corridor and the exchange of hostages and prisoners. - President Joe Biden’s three-phase ceasefire proposal has
not yet resolved gaps, with Hamas rejecting Israeli presence in the Philadelphi
corridor and Israel insisting on maintaining it.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday it was
incumbent on both Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to say yes on
remaining issues to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, which has faced obstacles in
negotiations across months.
“Based on what I have seen, 90% is agreed but there are
a few critical issues that remain,” including the so-called Philadelphi
corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said
at a press briefing in Haiti.
He said there were also some gaps in the agreement in how
Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged.
“I expect in the coming days, we will share with
Israel, and they (Qatar and Egypt) will share with Hamas our thoughts, the
three of us, on exactly how to resolve remaining outstanding questions,”
Blinken said, referring to the US and mediators Qatar and Egypt.
President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire
proposal on 31 May, but since then gaps have remained on a final agreement for
a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza.
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Hamas has rejected any Israeli presence in the Philadelphi
corridor, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that
Israel will not abandon the corridor.
This week, Turkey, five Arab countries including regional
powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority joined Egypt in
rejecting Israel’s demand to keep its troops deployed in the Philadelphi
corridor.
Asked whether it was still possible for Israel and Saudi
Arabia to normalise relations, Blinken said “there remains an
opportunity” to do that if a ceasefire was achieved in Gaza.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was triggered last 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1 200
and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave
has since killed over 40 000 Palestinians, according to the local health
ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing
a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that
Israel denies.
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