Gaza ceasefire plan pushed by blinken in Middle East, A key part of the latest ceasefire proposal for the Israel-Gaza war is due to be presented in the Middle East by United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
During his eighth tour of the region in as many months, Washington’s top official is expected to make a stop in Egypt and Israel on Monday, before continuing to Jordan and Qatar during the rest of his trip. Ahead of the UNSC vote on the ceasefire deal that he hopes to put to a vote next week, he will have the opportunity to ask Congress for its support for the latest draft of the ceasefire deal that President Joe Biden presented 10 days ago.
While neither Israel nor Hamas have sanctioned the plan in its entirety, fighting continues across the Gaza Strip every night, and air raids struck across the Gaza Strip on Monday morning as well.
Before visiting Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Blinken will visit Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The US official is also expected to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which Israel recently seizes during its ground invasion of the southern part of the Gaza Strip as part of its attempt to halt aid deliveries into the enclave. This is one of the most important points for aid shipments into Gaza.
Permanent as well as categorical
As part of a three-phase proposal, Biden described a series of steps that can be taken to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which he said had been put forward by Israel. The plan, however, has not been endorsed by either Israel or Hamas fully, although negotiations are still ongoing between the two parties.
Earlier this week, Hamas’s senior official, Sami Abu Zuhri, had appealed to the United States to make Israel end this war immediately.
The Hamas movement is ready to respond positively to any initiative that secures an end to the war in Gaza, so we call on the US administration to put pressure on the occupation to end the war,” Hamas leader Khaled Meshal said.
As part of the proposal, Palestinian prisoners will be exchanged for Israeli prisoners, Israeli forces will be pulled out of Gaza, Palestinian displaced people will be allowed to return to their homes, and a plan will be developed for the reconstruction of Gaza, which has been heavily damaged since October 7, 2016.
As of the beginning of the war in Gaza, more than 37,000 Palestinians had been killed and about 84,000 people had been injured, mostly women and children.
At the same time that Washington is taking the trip, it has been working on multiple drafts of the resolution it intends to present to the UNSC for a vote in order to support its proposal.
As DC has pointed out in his latest proposal, the latest iteration differs from previous versions in a number of significant ways.
In the first place, it is explicit in the document that Israel has accepted the ceasefire agreement. Previously, the version of the statement only said that Israel would be willing to consider a ceasefire agreement,” he pointed out.
Additionally, it expressly states that a ceasefire will continue after six weeks and will continue to be in effect as long as negotiations continue for the time being.
In any case, the ceasefire is not a definitive one, nor is it a permanent one. Rattansi said, “Some members of the Security Council want it the way it is,” and that is what some of them want.
Bombardment continues to take place
As part of an operation that led to the release of four Israeli captives from Hamas captivity, Blinken’s trip comes two days after the Israeli military killed at least 274 Palestinians and injured 698 more in Nuseirat in central Gaza in what was considered a major military offensive carried out by the Israeli military.
According to Hamas, three other unnamed captives were killed by the Israeli military during the raid, including one who possessed US citizenship, but Israel denied this claim.
As a result, the Israeli military continued to bombard Gazan targets across the territory. It is reported that bodies have been arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, and that there is a danger of overcrowding the only operating hospital in the area.
As late as Sunday evening, Benny Gantz announced that he was resigning from his position as minister of war for the Israeli Government. This move is unlikely to affect the administration of Benjamin Netanyahu immediately, but it will certainly increase his dependence on his allies in the far-right movement in the future.
There is no indication as to whether Blinken would meet Gantz on Monday, but he has previously met Gantz during his visits to Israel.
Despite the fact that this is the eighth regional tour the U.S. diplomat has undertaken since the beginning of the war, tensions across the Border between Israel and Hezbollah are rising after eight months of border fighting with both sides signaling that they are ready for war.
Timenews1 provided that information.
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