On Monday, Blinken will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog, to continue negotiations on a cease-fire in Gaza. – This is perhaps the last chance to get the hostages home and to establish a ceasefire, Blinken said when he met Herzog. Jørgen Jensehaugen is a senior researcher at the peace research institute Prio and has followed the Middle East closely for almost twenty years. He says Blinken’s statement testifies to the urgency of a ceasefire. – And then it is important for the US to put pressure on that, then this agreement must be reached, so that there is no regional escalation, he says. Netanyahu with new demands US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that an agreement “is still possible”, and was optimistic about the negotiations. Now Foreign Minister Blinken says that it may be the last chance, but Hamas and Israel disagree on who is preventing the ceasefire. Hamas has said that the agreement proposal presented by the US in May is acceptable to them. The Israeli negotiators have been trying for several months to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to that agreement, according to Israeli media. But now, according to Israeli media, he has submitted new demands, which were not part of the original agreement. Hamas rejects Netanyahu’s new demands, and will stick to the agreement the US put forward in May. Among other things, Netanyahu wants the border from Gaza to Egypt – called the Philadelphia Corridor – to be sealed. It was never part of the American proposal, and also faces opposition from Netanyahu’s own negotiators, anonymous sources tell The Times of Israel. It is the Philadelphi Passage, on the border with Egypt, that Netanyahu will continue to have control over. The picture was taken in January. Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar are said to be among those who believe that Netanyahu’s demands stand in the way of a ceasefire, according to leaks in Israeli media. – It is probably an example of something that has been a pattern in these ceasefire negotiations. That Netanyahu is less willing to enter into a cease-fire than his subordinates. And that he personally is one of the big problems in the negotiations, says Jensehaugen to news. Prio researcher Jørgen Jensehaugen has followed the Middle East for almost twenty years. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news In what way has it been a pattern in the past? – Ever since the ceasefire negotiations started, there have been repeated examples of Netanyahu coming up with revisions and additional demands. In addition to the murder of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which completely undermined the negotiations, Jensehaugen says. The original proposal for the ceasefire agreement, negotiated in May, involved a three-phase ceasefire. There should first be a halt in the fighting for up to six weeks, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and emergency aid will enter the Gaza Strip. The next phase involves a more permanent ceasefire. Published 19.08.2024, at 09.29 Updated 19.08.2024, at 11.03
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Antony Blinken in Israel to negotiate a ceasefire – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
