Blinken indicates mediators will present updated hostage deal offer to Israel, Hamas ‘in coming days’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hints that the mediators in the ongoing hostage negotiations will present an updated ceasefire proposal to Israel and Hamas in the coming days amid reports that it will be framed as a “take it or leave it” offer.
“In the coming days we will share with Israel, and [Qatar and Egypt] will share with Hamas, our thoughts — the three [mediators] — on exactly how to resolve the remaining outstanding questions, and then it will be time for the parties to decide yes or no, and then we’ll see,” Blinken says during a press conference in Haiti.
He reiterates, on the record, what a senior Biden administration official told reporters yesterday — that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on 90 percent of the issues, while the main remaining obstacles are Israel’s deployment in the Philadelphi Corridor and the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
Blinken acknowledges that each day that goes by without a deal allows for “an intervening event, which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart.”
