US, Egypt hopeful of new Israel-Hamas truce

RIYADH: Egypt’s foreign minister said he was “hopeful” about a new proposal for a Gaza truce as a Hamas delegation was due in Cairo for talks on Monday.

“We are hopeful,” Sameh Shoukry said in Riyadh at the World Economic Forum, adding that “the proposal has taken into account the positions of both sides and has tried to extract moderation”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said Monday he was hopeful Hamas would accept an “extraordinarily generous” offer to halt Israel’s Gaza offensive in return for the release of hostages.

“Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Blinken said in Riyadh at the World Economic Forum.

“In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas,” he said.

“They have to decide — and they have to decide quickly,” Blinken said. “I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.”

“We can have a fundamental change in the dynamic” in more than half a year of bloodshed, Blinken said.

A delegation from Hamas was due on Monday in Egypt, which with Qatar has been seeking to broker a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and see hostages freed.

The United States is close to finishing a security pact with Saudi Arabia that would be offered if it makes peace with Israel, Antony Blinken said.

“The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion,” Blinken said in Riyadh.