TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel needs to pursue an “enduring strategic success” in Gaza after its tactical victories against Hamas, urging it to seek a deal that would end the war and bring back dozens of hostages.
He spoke before traveling from Israel to Saudi Arabia on his 11th visit to the region since the war began. Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv shortly before his departure as Israel intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon — the latest in Israel’s war with Hezbollah — and a puff of smoke could be seen in the sky from Blinken’s hotel.
“Israel has achieved most of the strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza,” Blinken told reporters before boarding his plane. “Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success.”
“There really are two things left to do: Get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials with the U.S., Israel and Egypt confirmed that a proposal for a limited cease-fire and hostage release has been discussed in recent days.
No sign of a breakthrough after killing of Hamas leader
The United States sees a new opportunity to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli forces in Gaza last week. But there’s no indication that the warring parties have modified their demands since talks stalled over the summer.
There was also no immediate sign of a breakthrough after Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials on Tuesday.
Israel blamed the failure of talks on Sinwar’s hard-line stance, but Hamas says its demands for a lasting cease-fire, full Israeli withdrawal and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners have not changed. Hamas blamed the failure of the talks on Israel’s demand for a lasting military presence in parts of Gaza.
Talk of a more limited cease-fire and hostage release
Egypt has suggested the possibility of a short pause in fighting in which Hamas would release a handful of hostages and humanitarian aid deliveries would be increased, especially in northern Gaza, an Egyptian official told The Associated Press.
The official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Egypt and fellow mediator Qatar had discussed the idea with the United States but it was not yet a firm proposal.
A senior State Department official confirmed that a proposal for a limited hostage release has been discussed in recent days but that no determination had been made, even after Blinken’s meetings with Israeli officials and families of the hostages on Tuesday.
An Israeli official said Israel’s Security Cabinet had discussed an Egyptian initiative centered on a 12-day cease-fire and the release of six hostages. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, which has rejected such ideas in the past, saying it is intent on ending the war. It is still holding around 100 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel is warned on aid during offensive in northern Gaza
Israel has dramatically reduced the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza as it wages another major operation in the territory’s hard-hit north.
Blinken reiterated a warning that hindering humanitarian aid could force the U.S. to scale back the crucial military support it has provided to Israel since the war began. “There’s progress made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made,” he told reporters, without elaborating.
The U.N. humanitarian office says Israel has severely restricted aid operations since the start of its offensive in Jabaliya, a densely populated urban refugee camp in northern Gaza.
It said one critical mission, to rescue around 40 people trapped in the rubble in Jabaliya, had been repeatedly denied since Friday. Col. Elad Goren, a senior official with the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in Gaza, said he was not aware of the request.
Speaking to reporters, Goren acknowledged disruptions in aid to the north in the first half of October but said they were related to the Jewish holidays and troop movements. He said people who were not evacuating Jabaliya had enough assistance from previous months to get by.
The U.N. estimates that 60,000 people have fled to Gaza City since the start of the operation in Jabaliya, the latest in a series of mass displacements.
Northern Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground operation and has been encircled by Israeli forces since late last year. Most of the population heeded Israeli warnings to flee to southern Gaza early in the war, but an estimated 400,000 people have stayed.
The north has been more heavily destroyed than other areas of Gaza, with entire neighborhoods obliterated. Israel has prevented Palestinians who fled the north from returning to their homes, a key demand from Hamas in the cease-fire talks.
US urges Israel to distance itself from ‘Generals’ Plan’ for Gaza
The renewed offensive in the north has raised fears among Palestinians that Israel intends to implement a plan proposed by former generals in which civilians would be ordered to leave the north and anyone remaining would be starved out or killed.
Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s Cabinet say Israel should remain in Gaza and re-establish Jewish settlements there.
Blinken said the U.S. officials “fully reject” any Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and that it was not the policy of the Israeli government.
The State Department official said Blinken questioned Netanyahu and members of his government about the so-called Generals’ Plan. The Israelis denied having such a plan and said the perception of it was damaging, the official said. The official said the Americans pressed the Israelis to publicly distance themselves from it.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250 when they stormed into southern Israel a year ago.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who don’t distinguish combatants from civilians but say more than half the dead are women and children. It has displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, forcing hundreds of thousands into squalid tent camps.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.
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Follow AP’s Gaza coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war