Blinken: ‘We’re very close’ to ceasefire-hostage deal, plan will be handed to Trump administration if not finalized

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says “we’re very close to a ceasefire and hostage agreement.”

“I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have left, but if we don’t, then the plan that President [Joe] Biden put forward for a ceasefire-hostage deal will be handed over to the incoming administration, and I believe that when we get that deal — and we’ll get it — it’ll be on the basis of the plan that President Biden put before the world back in May,” Blinken says during a press conference with his French counterpart in Paris.

Blinken says that the Biden administration has also spent significant time advancing an initiative for the post-war management of Gaza that includes arrangements for the Strip’s security, administration and reconstruction.

“There too, we’re ready to hand that over to the [Trump] administration so it can work on it and run with it when the opportunity is there,” he says.

He then highlights the work that the Biden administration has done to secure a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“All of that is ready to go if the opportunity presents itself, with a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as understandings on a pathway forward for the Palestinians,” Blinken says. “So there’s tremendous opportunity there.”