“Based on what I’ve seen, there’s about 90 percent agreement, but there are a few very important issues that remain outstanding,” Blinken said at a news briefing, including the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt.
He said there were also some disagreements over how to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“I expect in the coming days that we will convey to Israel, and (Qatar and Egypt) will convey to Hamas, our ideas, the three of us, on how to resolve the remaining outstanding issues,” Blinken added. The United States, Qatar and Egypt are mediating between the two sides.
On May 31, US President Joe Biden proposed a three-stage ceasefire, but differences remain that hinder a final agreement to ceasefire and release the hostages held in Gaza.
Hamas rejects any Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Israel will not withdraw from it.
This round of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted on October 7 when Hamas led an attack on Israel that, according to Israeli statistics, killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
The ongoing Israeli assault on the Strip has since killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and forced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee.
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