Blinken Urges Israel, Hamas to Agree   05/01 06:27

   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday 
in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying "the time is 
now" for an agreement that would free hostages and bring a pause in the nearly 
seven months of war in Gaza.

   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with 
Israeli leaders on Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel 
and Hamas, saying "the time is now" for an agreement that would free hostages 
and bring a pause in the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.

   He said Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal off the 
ground.

   Blinken is on his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in 
October in his bid to secure what's been an elusive deal between Israel and 
Hamas that could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of 
Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering.

   The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far 
apart on one key issue -- whether the war should end as part of an emerging 
deal.

   "We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to 
get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn't be achieved is because of 
Hamas," Blinken told Israel's ceremonial President Isaac Herzog at a meeting in 
Tel Aviv.

   "There is a proposal on the table, and as we've said, no delays, no excuses. 
The time is now," he said.

   Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water 
to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis and displaced 
much of the territory's population.

   Blinken also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though no 
details about the meeting were immediately available.

   Earlier, after meeting with Herzog and also with families of Americans held 
by Hamas at his hotel, Blinken briefly greeted several dozen demonstrators 
calling for an immediate hostage release deal on the sidewalk outside.

   Chanting "SOS, USA, only you can save the day" and "In Blinken we trust, 
bring them home to us," the protesters urged him to make their case to 
Netanyahu.

   Blinken told the families that there was a very strong proposal on the table 
and that Hamas needs to say yes to it. "That is our determination, and we will 
not rest, we will not stop until you're reunited with your loved ones," he said.

   His comments came on the last leg of his regional visit, with previous stops 
in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where he urged Hamas to accept the latest proposal, 
calling it "extraordinarily generous" on Israel's part.

   According to the State Department, he will also visit an Israeli port where 
aid for Gaza is entering.

   The United States has staunchly supported Israel's war since Hamas' 
unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. But it has grown 
increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians in 
Gaza and has been especially outspoken against Israel's plan to invade Rafah, 
Gaza's southernmost city where some 1.5 million Palestinians have fled from 
fighting elsewhere in the territory.

   Washington has warned Israel against any offensive that puts civilians at 
risk.

   Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade Rafah, which he says is Hamas' last 
stronghold in the coastal strip, and on Tuesday he pledged to do so "with or 
without" a cease-fire deal.

   The current deal that is being discussed -- brokered by the U.S., Egypt and 
Qatar -- would see the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a six-week 
halt in fighting as part of an initial phase, according to an Egyptian official 
and Israeli media. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would also 
be released, including some serving long sentences.

   But a sticking point remains over what happens next. Hamas has demanded 
assurances that an eventual release of all hostages will bring a complete end 
to Israel's nearly seven-month assault in Gaza and a withdrawal of its troops 
from the devastated territory.

   Israel has offered only an extended pause, vowing to resume its offensive 
once the first phase of the deal is over. The issue has repeatedly obstructed 
efforts by the mediators during months of talks.

   While the talks appeared to be gaining steam, on Wednesday, an Egyptian 
official said that Hamas had asked Egyptian and Qatari mediators to provide 
clarity on the terms of the latest cease-fire proposal being discussed, a 
demand that could delay progress.

   The official, who has close ties to the talks and who spoke on the condition 
of anonymity in order to freely discuss the deal, said Hamas wants clear terms 
for the unconditional return of displaced people to the north of Gaza and to 
ensure that the second stage of the deal will include discussing the gradual 
and complete withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip.

   The official said the current outline didn't fully explain who would be 
allowed to return north and how it would be decided.

   While talks are ongoing, the fighting in Gaza continues. Late Tuesday, an 
Israeli airstrike hit a house in central Rafah -- a city Israel has struck 
repeatedly despite the masses that have taken refuge there -- killing at least 
two children, according to hospital authorities. The bodies of the dead 
children were taken to the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital. An Associated Press 
journalist saw the bodies at the hospital morgue as their relatives mourned the 
deaths.

   On Wednesday, Israel's military said it was operating in central Gaza, where 
it said jets struck militants, including one said to be setting up explosives.

   The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into 
southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly 
civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are 
still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

   The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local 
health officials. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 
million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities 
and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.