Blinken to push for ceasefire deal in coming trip to Middle East

US Secretary of State will visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar in effort to secure ceasefire for hostage deal

This will be US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's eighth trip to the region since October 7. Reuters

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East next week in an effort to push through a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

Mr Blinken is expected to visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar in what will be his eighth trip to the region since October 7, the State Department confirmed on Friday.

The latest diplomatic effort comes as hopes for a possible ceasefire deal, which President Joe Biden announced late last month, begin to fade.

“The Secretary will discuss with partners the need to reach a ceasefire agreement that secures the release of all hostages,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

“He will emphasise the importance of Hamas accepting the proposal on the table.”

On May 31, Mr Biden outlined for the first time a three-phase proposal that would see Hamas release hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire that could eventually lead to a full cessation of the bitter conflict.

More than 36,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched strikes and a ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

This followed the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israeli communities on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 abducted.

It has been by far the deadliest iteration of the decades-long conflict, and neither Israel nor Hamas have displayed an appetite to end it.

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Mr Biden has said the proposal currently on the table “offers a concrete road map for ending the crisis”.

According to the US, Israel has signed off on the proposal, which is “nearly identical” to what Hamas asked for on May 6.

But leading members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet have threatened to leave the fragile coalition if Israel accepts the latest deal.

Hamas, meanwhile, has yet to accept the terms, and the potential deal appears to be slipping away.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that mediators are still waiting for an official response from Hamas, and that Mr Biden, who is currently on a visit to France, would discuss the issue with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron during their meeting on Saturday.

Earlier this week, CIA Director William Burns was in Doha and Mr Biden’s top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk was in Egypt in an effort to push the proposal through.

Mr Blinken appears to be the third spear in Mr Biden’s diplomatic trident.

In addition to efforts to secure a ceasefire, Mr Blinken is also expected to outline how the latest peace proposal has the potential to lead to an end of hostilities along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have been engaged in tit-for-tat attacks for months.

“The Secretary will also continue to reiterate the need to prevent the conflict from escalating further,” Mr Miller said.

The trip comes before a planned visit by Mr Netanyahu to the US on July 24, during which the Israeli leader is expected to address a joint session of Congress.

Two hundred days of Israel-Gaza war – in pictures

Palestinians move with their belongings on a road lined with destroyed buildings, in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on April 22. AFP

An infant saved from the womb of her mother Sabreen Al Sheikh, who was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband Shokri and her daughter Malak, lies in an incubator at Al Emirati hospital in Rafah, on April 21. Reuters

A man rides a bicycle, on April 2, past a damaged vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen non-profit, including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli air strike. Reuters

A woman at the damaged Al Shifa Hospital, on April 1, after Israeli forces withdrew from the medical complex following a two-week siege. Reuters

The view from a Jordanian flight dropping vital aid by parachute into Gaza, in March. Matthew Kynaston / The National

Nozha Awad flees Al Shifa hospital with her triplet children, after an Israeli raid siege began at the medical complex, in March. Reuters

Palestinians gather to receive aid outside a UNRWA warehouse, in March. Reuters

A family end their fast amid the rubble of their destroyed home, during Ramadan in Rafah, in March. Reuters

Wafaa Tabasi with her twin malnourished daughters, at Al Awda health centre in Rafah, in March. Reuters

Palestinians carry bags of flour taken from an aid lorry near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, in February. Reuters

Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Hare, two Israeli hostages who, according to the Israeli military, were freed in a special forces operation in Rafah, reunite with loved ones at Sheba Medical Centre, in Ramat Gan, Israel, in February. Reuters

Palestinian Muhammad Al Durra with his children in the ruins of a house in Rafah where they sheltered on January 11, 2024. EPA

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The ruins of Rafah on December 14, 2023. AFP

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Mourning the dead of Israeli bombardment outside the mortuary at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on November 14, 2023. AFP

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November 7, 2023, a month to the day after Hamas attacked Israel, a victim of an Israeli bombardment in Rafah is moved from the rubble. AFP

Searching the rubble after Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 26, 2023. AP Photo

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Palestinians with the wreckage of an Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of the city of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas forces swept unopposed into Israel. AP Photo

Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. AP Photo