Blinken embarks on 9th trip to Middle East since start of Gaza War, pushing for cease-fire momentum ahead of resumed talks

TEL AVIV, Israel—U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the start of the Israel–Hamas war to press for the quick conclusion of an elusive cease-fire agreement.

Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday before what mediators have billed as a last push to reach a deal that will take place in Cairo later this week. He will meet with top Israeli officials on Monday before traveling to Egypt on Tuesday.

Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed cease-fire reported progress on a deal under which Israel would halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists.

Shortly before Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting there are areas where Israel can be flexible and unspecified areas where it won’t be. “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” he said.

In addition to Netanyahu, Blinken will meet Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

On Friday, the United States and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar said they were closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha, with American and Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas has signaled resistance to what it called new demands by Israel.

The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the deadliest war fought between Israelis and Palestinians. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.

Officials said the U.S. has presented proposals to bridge all the gaps remaining between the Israeli and Hamas positions. Formal responses to the U.S. outline are expected this week and could lead to a cease-fire declaration unless the talks collapse, as has happened with multiple previous efforts to end the 10-month-old war.

U.S. President Joe Biden has seemed optimistic that a deal could be at hand, saying Friday “we are closer than we’ve ever been.”

Asked Sunday about a cease-fire, Biden told reporters: “We’re still underway. We’re not giving up. Still possible.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigning in Pennsylvania, was asked if Netanyahu is ready to strike a cease-fire deal.

“I will not speak for him, but I will tell you that these conversations are ongoing and we are not giving up, and we are going to continue to work very hard on this,“ the Democratic presidential nominee said. ”We’ve got to get a cease-fire and we got to get those hostages out.”