US Secretary Blinken: Israel accepts bridging hostage proposal, Hamas must also do so

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the United States “bridging proposal” to finalize a hostage deal and Hamas must now do so as well, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Monday as he wrapped up his one-day visit to Israel.

“In a very constructive meeting” with Netanyahu today, “he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it,” Blinken said.

“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, have to come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement commitments that they’ve made under this agreement,” Blinken said.

A similar statement by the prime minister

Netanyahu put out a similar statement in the aftermath of their three-hour meeting in Jerusalem earlier in the day. Still, Netanyahu and government spokesperson David Mercer continued to underscore Israel’s firm commitment to some of the principled points that have created a gap with Hamas with regard to the deal.

Last week, the US put forward what it described as a “bridging proposal” in Doha, which said it closed the gaps between Israel and Hamas with regard to a May 31 deal US President Joe Biden unveiled at the White House.

Hamas and Israel both accepted that May 31 deal in principal but have argued about the details of how it would be executed for close to three months as the United States has worked to rally global support for the deal, including securing a United Nations Security Council resolution backing it.

On Sunday night as Blinken landed in Israel, Hamas rejected the US bridging proposal. Its spokesperson Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera over the weekend that the latest US text favored Israel and that Netanyahu had introduced new conditions into the deal, including his insistence that the IDF must maintain control of two critical security corridors, Philadelphi and Netzarim.

Qatar and Egypt have been the main mediators for a deal, with the support of the United States.

CIA Director William Burns held high-level talks in Doha on Thursday and Friday, with the participation of a high-level Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea.

Professional Israel teams are in Doha and Cairo off and on this week for lower-level talks, and a senior-level team was expected to head to Cairo on Wednesday. However, the location of what the US had earlier described as endgame talks this week could also be Doha; the talks could be held on Thursday or Friday.

Throughout Blinken’s visit, there were persistent media reports accusing Netanyahu of sabotaging the deal and making it impossible for his negotiating team to operate.

Blinken confirmed to reporters that Netanyahu had committed to “sending his senior expert team back to either Doha or to Egypt to try to complete this process.”

When it came to the next steps, he focused on Hamas, stating that “we look to Hamas, first and foremost, to get behind the bridging proposal,” Blinken stated.

Blinken himself plans to head to Egypt and Qatar from Israel before traveling back to Washington. “Both Egypt and Qatar are in contact with Hamas,” Blinken said, adding that he expects to receive an update on their efforts.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged Blinken to use the full force of US diplomatic pressure to sway Hamas to accept the deal.

Blinken arrived as the region remained braced for reprisal attacks by Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, which the United States fears would spark a regional war and close the window on any immediate possibility of a deal.

In his conversation earlier in the day with President Isaac Herzog, he described the efforts this week as “critical” warning that this was “the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.”

He later clarified for reporters in Tel Aviv that the United States would never give up on the hostages.

“But what we know” is that “with every passing day that there’s not an agreement” hostages can perish and “intervening events” can occur that could “make things even more difficult, if not impossible,” Blinken said.

There is, therefore, this “fierce urgency of now” particularly since “we do see this as the best opportunity to finally get this over the finish line,” Blinken stated.

“The longer this goes on, the more again, hostages will suffer, possibly perish, and the more other things happen that should make this impossible, So that’s why we’re so intensely focused on getting this done and getting it done now,” Blinken stressed.

When pushed about the issue of Netanyahu’s insistence on the IDF presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, Blinken appeared to indicate that there were details that were not in the bridging agreement that still needed to be worked out.

“Not everything is spelled out in detail in the agreement,” Blinken said, adding that he could not comment on specific issues.

“There are questions of implementation and making sure that it’s clearly understood what each side will do to carry out its commitments.

“That’s the next step, assuming Hamas agrees to the bridging proposal,” he stated.

In a statement, Netanyahu thanked the United States for its efforts and said he greatly appreciated “the understanding that the US has shown for our vital security interests as part of our joint efforts to bring about the release of our hostages.

“I would like to emphasize: The efforts to release a maximum number of living hostages – already in the first stage of the deal,” he said.

Relatives of the hostages and their supporters rallied outside Blinken’s hotel in Tel Aviv, calling for Netanyahu to take whatever steps necessary to finalize the deal.

There must be a deal, “now, now,” they chanted to the beat of drums, as they held up photos of hostages and a large sign that stated, “Make this deal real.”

Netanyahu plans to meet this week with former female hostages who were released in the first hostage deal in November, but who still have relatives held captive in Gaza.

On Air Force One en route to the DNC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden had spoken with regional and European leaders about the importance of the deal, noting that he and his team have worked around the clock to get this done.

Both Blinken and Biden spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Sunday about the hostage deal in advance of Blinken’s meeting with top-level Israeli officials.

The Biden administration has hope that if a permanent Gaza ceasefire is reached, it will still be possible to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.