In the Gaza Strip, civilians are still being killed, and there are still too many casualties. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated this during a press conference in Tel Aviv. broadcast was conducted on the official YouTube channel of the American government on Wednesday, February 7.
“I told the Prime Minister [Биньямину Нетаньяху] and other Israeli officials that the daily toll that continues to be inflicted on innocent civilians remains too high,” he said.
He emphasized that the rhetoric of some officials in the Israeli administration contributes to the further escalation of the conflict. This is fueling international tensions and undermining allied countries' support for Jerusalem, Blinken said.
In addition, the US Secretary of State mentioned an agreement with the Palestinian Hamas movement regarding a temporary ceasefire. The movement's response offers hope for compromise, he said.
“While Hamas' response contains some clearly unacceptable elements, we still believe it leaves room for an agreement to be reached,” Blinken said.
Earlier in the day, Hamas, through Qatar, conveyed to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad its response to the proposal for a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's website said officials were carefully studying the response.
On the same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States was also studying this response and was confident that a deal was possible.
The head of the Hamas politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, said on January 30 that he was given a proposal for a truce in Gaza, and the leadership of the movement was called to Cairo (the capital of Egypt) to discuss the provisions of the deal.
On the eve of this, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdel Rahman Al Thani said that there was progress in the work to free the hostages, and also expressed hope that the new agreement would lead to a permanent ceasefire. That day, negotiators from the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Israel agreed on the main provisions of the new deal.
In turn, Israel and Hamas agreed on January 24 to exchange prisoners and prisoners as part of a ceasefire. Hamas emphasized that it will not fulfill any of its conditions until a pause in hostilities actually occurs.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when Hamas subjected Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. That same day, Israel began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are seeking to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.
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