Updated 03.00 | Published 02.54
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full screen US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Tel Aviv in Israel on Monday. Photo: Kevin Mohatt/AP/TT
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is ending his latest round of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East – where he tried to put pressure on the parties to bring about a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
– Time is short, he says.
The visit was Blinken’s ninth in the region since the Gaza war broke out. The foreign minister, who previously said that the talks could be “the last chance” to bring about a ceasefire, emphasized again that time could be short.
“Every day that goes by, more bad things can happen to good people who don’t deserve it,” Blinken told reporters before boarding his plane to leave the Qatari capital of Doha, where the talks are being held.
– We have to get this done, and it has to be done in the coming days, he said, referring to the ceasefire proposal.
– We will do everything to get it over the finish line.
The United States, together with the mediator countries Egypt and Qatar, has put heavy pressure on terror-labelled Hamas to get the group to accept the latest proposal.
Blinken has previously said that Israel accepted the proposal – but shortly afterwards the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went out in the Israeli media and disagreed on an important critical issue. Netanyahu insisted that Israel maintain a military presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt, which the mediator Egypt opposes.
Antony Blinken stressed that the US “does not accept any long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza”. At the same time, he admitted that disagreements remain between the parties and called on both Israel and Hamas to show “maximum flexibility” during the talks.
An anonymous official on US President Joe Biden’s staff, who traveled to the Middle East with Blinken, told Reuters that the US expects further talks on a ceasefire this week.