Blinken Says Israel Accepts Cease-Fire, Hamas Must ‘Say Yes’
- US diplomat set to visit Egypt for more talks on halt to war
- Blinken stresses need for an ‘enduring cease-fire’ for Gaza
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a cease-fire proposal to halt the war in Gaza and the next step is for “Hamas to say yes,” putting the onus on the group to end the 10-month conflict even as violence continued.
Blinken, on his ninth trip to the region since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, called the proposed accord “a bridging agreement” and acknowledged that not everything is spelled out in detail. But it builds on a proposal that President Joe Biden put forward in late May that both sides had balked at. Earlier in the day, Blinken had called it “the best, maybe the last opportunity” to free the hostages taken in the Hamas attack.