By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Tuesday with his Qatari counterpart amid efforts to reach a six-week cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for a hostage deal.
Blinken said ahead of his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the State Department that there is an "opportunity for an immediate cease-fire that can bring hostages home, that can dramatically increase the amount of humanitarian assistance getting to Palestinians who so desperately need it, and can also set the conditions for an enduring resolution."
"And it is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage in that cease-fire," he added.
Blinken also noted that the US will continue to press Israel to maximize "every possible means" to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to make sure it can get to the people who need it.
Al-Thani, who is Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, said Qatar will continue to work with its partners to make the cease-fire agreement happen.
"We want to see an end to the humanitarian suffering. We want to see the hostages back with their families," he said.
In a joint statement, the two countries said Blinken and Al-Thani met as part of the sixth US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue and discussed a wide range of topics ranging from economic and security cooperation to technology.
Blinken appreciated Qatar’s mediation efforts to "facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza and secure the release of hostages, including US citizens, held by Hamas," according to the statement.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have been working for weeks to reach an agreement in which Hamas would release up to 40 hostages and Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners in return for a six-week cease-fire.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the ball is now in Hamas’s court regarding a possible cease-fire deal.
"It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. The Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer. We will know in a couple of days what’s gonna happen. We need a cease-fire," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said “the ball is in the Israeli court,” adding they were "open to proposals and initiatives that are consistent with its position calling for a cease-fire, withdrawal, the return of the displaced, the entry of relief convoys and reconstruction.”
He said Israel had thus far refused Hamas's demands for people who fled northern Gaza to be allowed to return and for guarantees of a long-term cease-fire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza