Blinken heads back to Middle East as Gaza truce hopes rise

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Saturday on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead a Gaza ceasefire deal, as cautious optimism rises.

The top US diplomat, who is putting off vacation plans for his ninth trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership.

He has routinely visited Arab states on previous trips, but no further stops were immediately announced.

Blinken flew out of Andrews Air Force Base after two days of ceasefire talks urged by President Joe Biden brokered with Egypt and Qatar wrapped up in the Qatari capital Doha.

US officials said they made progress and offered a proposal to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, with talks to resume later in the coming week in Cairo.

Biden claimed that “we are closer than we have ever been” to a deal, with a US official saying the process was not in its “end game.”

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the diplomats were setting up an “implementation cell” so they can quickly move ahead on the deal if it is completed.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office in a statement said that negotiators have expressed “cautious optimism” about reaching an agreement and called for pressure on Hamas, which has dismissed talk of a truce being close.

Under a plan laid out by Biden on May 31, fighting would stop for an initial six weeks that would be extended as talks take place on a permanent ending, with hostages and prisoners released.

While Biden has cast the deal as coming from Israel, Netanyahu faces intense criticism from far-right allies who keep his government in power.

A ceasefire deal would be a major win for Biden on the week that his Democratic Party will hold its Chicago convention to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as its candidate.

Pro-Palestinian activists have vowed demonstrations in Chicago, angered at excessive support for Israel by the Biden administration, which recently approved another $20 billion in arms sales for Israel.

In Hamas-run Gaza, authorities say more than 40,000 people have died, with 15 people from the same family killed in a new airstrike.