Chance for Gaza ceasefire ‘down to’ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Blinken says in Tel Aviv

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushes Hamas to accept the ceasefire proposal put forward by Israel last month and revealed by the US, saying that “everyone’s vote is in, except for one vote and that’s Hamas.”

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Blinken says that while Hamas’s endorsement of the UN decision to back the proposal was a “hopeful sign,” the US still required a definitive word from Hamas leadership inside Gaza.

“That’s what counts, and that’s what we don’t have yet,” he says.

Referring to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Blinken says there is a “strong consensus” in Israel and internationally to move forward with implementing the proposal, but that “it really is down to one person at this point.”

Everyone has agreed to the deal “except Hamas,” he says when asked if he believes the terror group to be leaning toward supporting it.

“If Hamas doesn’t say yes, then this is clearly on them — on them in terms of a vote to continue the war, not end it; on them in terms of the safety, the well-being of hundreds of thousands, millions of Palestinian women, children, and men in Gaza,” he says.