US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is the best way to contain violence across the Middle East, with some progress made in negotiations over the past month and a half.
“We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address risks to regional stability,” Blinken tells journalists at a joint press conference in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart.
Blinken says 15 paragraphs had been agreed out of 18 in the deal, but that remaining issues needed to be resolved.
Earlier this month, a US official told the Times of Israel that 14 paragraphs had been agreed upon.
The official said one of the four remaining paragraphs had a very technical fix on which a consensus would be needed, and another three paragraphs regarding the hostage swap were still being negotiated. It was unclear on which of the issues there had been progress.
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