Israel-Hamas war latest: Blinken pushes for cease-fire in his 9th trip to Mideast since war began

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza. He called on Hamas to do the same.

Blinken was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began more than 10 months ago. He did not say whether the “bridging proposal” addressed concerns cited by Hamas.

Even if the militant group accepts the proposal, negotiators will spend the coming days working on “clear understandings on implementing the agreement,” Blinken said.

His visit came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was close. His trip also came amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel.

The next important step is for Hamas to say “yes”.’

The latest proposal has been brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

The most sensitive aspect of it is who controls two strategic corridors inside Gaza.

Hamas has previously indicated any agreement which gave Israel control of these corridors was a “non-starter”.

Similarly, Israel remains opposed to Hamas being granted autonomy, as it fears the terror group will use the corridors to smuggle military equipment into Gaza.

To prevent this, Israel has suggested a number of its troops should be permitted to remain along the Gaza-Egypt border following any ceasefire.

For his part, Netanyahu said the talks with Blinken had been “positive” and “conducted in a good spirit”.

The ten-month conflict is understood to have caused deaths of more than 40,000 people, including thousands of women and children.

It has also led to a humanitarian crisis in the occupied territories, with Palestinian families desperately short of basic provisions for life such as shelter, food and medicines.

The Hamas atrocities of October 7 killed more than 1200 Israelis while 250 were abducted.

Of these, 110 are still believed to be in Gaza.

However, there are fears a third of these captives may be dead.

Today, Blinken is expected to travel to Egypt for further talks to end the fighting.

The evolving proposal is said to break down into three stages, with a staggered release of hostages in return for a withdrawal of Israeli troops and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners.

In its most recent statement on the negotiations, on Sunday Hamas accused Netanyahu of continually setting obstacles to a deal by demanding new conditions.

Israel is also braced for more suicide bombings by Hamas following a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Hamas confirmed there had been a “martyrdom operation”.

Dozens of civilians were praying near where the explosion took place but there were no fatalities. One person was injured.

Hamas warned there will be more such operations as long as the Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues, Sunday’s attack was the first since 2016.

Meanwhile one Israeli soldier was killed Monday in a Hezbollah drone attack on the Ya’ra Barracks near the Lebanon-Israel border, the Israeli military said.

Hezbollah said it had launched exploding drones at two Israeli bases, including in the northern town of Nahariya, as tensions increase along the Lebanon-Israel border and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East to push for a cease-fire deal to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it intercepted some projectiles coming from southern Lebanon, while others “fell in the area of Ya’ra,” without providing additional information.

The Israeli military told The Associated Press that there were multiple launches into the area.