Blinken discusses Gaza cease-fire plan with Israeli ministers

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls Sunday with two Israeli ministers to discuss the cease-fire proposal unveiled by President Joe Biden late last week.

During the phone call with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, Blinken "commended Israel for the proposal and emphasized that Hamas should take the deal without delay," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Blinken told Gantz that the proposal would advance Israel’s long-term security interests, including by unlocking the possibility of calm along Israel’s border with Lebanon that would allow Israelis to return to their homes, Miller added.

In a separate statement, Miller said that in the call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Secretary "commended Israel’s readiness to conclude a deal and affirmed that the onus is on Hamas to accept."

Reaffirming the US's "ironclad commitment" to Israel’s security, Blinken underscored that the proposal would advance Israel’s long-term security interests, including by enabling the possibility of further integration in the region, he added.

Biden said Friday that Israel presented the Palestinian resistance group Hamas with a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in the besieged Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave.

Biden appealed to Hamas to accept the deal and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resist pressure from the members of his governing coalition who are opposed to the plan.

Netanyahu's office reiterated Friday his intention to continue the country's offensive in Gaza until all of Tel Aviv's war goals are achieved.

Hamas said it would "respond positively to any proposal that includes a permanent cease-fire, a full withdrawal (of Israeli forces) from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction efforts, the return of the displaced, and the completion of a comprehensive hostage exchange deal."

Israel’s brutal military offensive has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7 last year, following a cross-border incursion by Hamas. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.