At a meeting with the families of Hamas-held hostages who hold US citizenship, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is convinced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is truly committed to reaching a deal this time, Channel 12 reports.
Blinken met with the families, as he has done on numerous previous visits, shortly before his press conference earlier this evening.
He gave them a sense that a deal can be finalized within days, the report says, and told them it seemed that the prime minister is invested in achieving a deal.
“And what if he’s bluffing again?” one of the participants reportedly asked Blinken.
He is said to have laughed and said, “We’ll know. We have a way to measure if the prime minister is committed to a deal. And this time our assessment is that he is.”
He also reportedly told them that there is immense pressure on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to agree to the bridging proposal — including from the Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 19, 2024
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
