'This is last opportunity': Blinken presses Israel for Gaza ceasefire deal as Hamas rejects proposal

As Hamas has rejected the latest proposal floated by the United States, US Secretary of Antony of State has pressed Israel for making a deal with Hamas.

For weeks, the talks for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages have stood compromised over new demands that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inserted into the original proposal. Even after the United States floated a bridging proposal to close the gap between the positions of Hamas and Israel, Hamas rejected the bridging proposal.

During his ongoing visit to Israel, Blinken has said that the parties to the conflict now had one last chance for a deal.

“This is a decisive moment. Probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” said Blinken during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Before Hamas announced the rejection of the bridging proposal, the mediators had said significant progress had been made during two days of negotiations in Doha. In a joint statement, the United States, Qatar, and Egypt had said they accepted a deal to be signed by the end of this week in a follow-up summit in Cairo.

‘It’s time for everyone to say yes’

Stressing that it was the final chance to get a deal, Blinken said that everyone had to say yes for the deal and excuses must now stop.

Later in the day, Blinken is scheduled to hold talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. For several weeks, the United States has been pressing Netanyahu to not tank the deal being negotiated.

The new demands of Netanyahu and the provocations of his far-right allies have, however, compromised the talks and the Joe Biden administration has become considerably sharper in recent weeks. While Blinken previously said the responsibility for a ceasefire deal rested with Yahya Sinwar, who became the leader of Hamas this month, now he has pressed all parties —including Israel— as an understanding has emerged that it’s Netanyahu whose actions are becoming a roadblock.

“It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no,” said Blinken.

In a barely-veiled message to Netanyahu and his trigger-happy far-right allies, Blinken said that no one should take any escalatory steps to derail the talks.

“It’s time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity," said Blinken.

Why Hamas rejected US proposal

The Hamas said it had rejected the US bridging proposal as it repeated the new demands made by Netanyahu and did not address Hamas’ concerns.

“After being briefed by the mediators about what happened in the last round of talks in Doha, we once again came to the conclusion that Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement, and is setting new conditions and demands with the aim of undermining the mediators’ efforts and prolonging the war,” said Hamas in a statement, according to Axios.

Hamas further said the proposal “aligned” with Netanyahu’s demands.

The Netanyahu’s demands that have compromised the talks include the Israeli control of Philadelphi Corridor (the narrow strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border), ta mechanism to screen Palestinians returning home in the north from the south where they have been sheltering, and having a veto of sorts about the Palestinian prisoners being released as part of the prisoner swap.