Blinken says Gaza ceasefire deal is ‘inside the 10-yard line’
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Palestinians walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 19, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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ASPEN, Colorado – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on July 19 that an agreement to free hostages in the Gaza Strip and establish a ceasefire was close, as administration officials prepared for what they expected to be a tense visit to Washington next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Blinken, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said the talks were “inside the 10-yard line”, using an American football term.
Hours later, at the same conference, Mr Sullivan said there was no expectation that an agreement would be reached before Mr Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress on July 24. He said President Joe Biden would “focus his energy” in his meetings with Mr Netanyahu “to get this deal done in the coming weeks”.
The two officials, among Mr Biden’s closest advisers, said nothing about how the US President would juggle the crisis engulfing his re-election bid with managing the tense relationship with Mr Netanyahu.
Instead, they focused heavily on the halting, often frustrating process of getting Israel and Hamas to agree to the details of a ceasefire deal resembling the terms that Mr Biden had proposed in May
They are seeking to put pressure on Hamas to agree to a negotiated halt in the violence and to release Israeli and other prisoners who were taken in the terrorist attack on Oct 7.
Mr Blinken struck a note of hope, saying Hamas had agreed to the framework proposed by Mr Biden.
But he acknowledged that working out the details, including providing security inside Gaza and developing a post-war plan to govern the territory and allow in more relief supplies, had taken far longer than expected.
He said Hamas could not return to power in Gaza but that the Israeli occupation of Gaza could not continue.
Hamas officials have said they had agreed to cede civil and police control to an independent authority.
US officials want security control to be given to a force of Palestinians who support the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Hamas has insisted it will not give up control of its security forces. NYTIMES
