The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Cairo on Tuesday, on his ninth Middle East trip since the Gaza war began, to seek ceasefire momentum as talks may resume. Blinken arrived in Israel first for "a last push to reach a deal" that will take place in Cairo later this week.
The American dignitary is on his ninth visit to the Middle East after the Hamas massacre and mayhem in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the killing of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 people into Gaza as hostages. He will be travelling to Doha after the Cairo meeting.
The US Secretary of State will be having discussions with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al Sisi and Egyptian intelligence head Major General Abbas Kamel, who has been one of the key negotiators in the ongoing indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas.
He will then fly to Doha and meet Qatar Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim al Thani who is also part of the indirect peace talks and who enjoys excellent personal rapport with the Hamas leadership.
Blinken, who reached Tel Aviv on Sunday, held a series of meetings with Israel's President Issac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant and other senior leaders on Monday.
Blinken told media persons in Tel Aviv that Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted the ceasefire proposal and that the US was waiting for the Hamas' response to this.
However, Hamas has not given a positive response and its leader Osama Hamdan, while speaking to Arab media outlets, said that Hamas wanted an agreement on the implementation mechanism in Gaza.
He also said that the new US proposal has raised several ambiguities as it was not what was presented to Hamas and what the organisation has agreed upon.
According to Arab media reports, even though Hamas was publicly raising scepticism on the US proposal, there was immense pressure on the Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to accept the proposal and enter into a truce.
Israel's Prime Minister's office confirmed that it will participate in the Cairo peace talks to be held this week. Mossad Chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and IDF representative Nitzan Alon will lead the Israel team during the Cairo peace talks.
(With inputs from IANS)
