Antony Blinken blamed Hamas for preventing the truce with Israel by demanding several changes to the US proposal

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, blamed the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas this Wednesday from Doha for preventing a truce agreement from being reached after requesting “numerous changes” to the proposal presented by the United States, since some of them are not “viable”.

“Numerous changes have been proposed to the agreement that is on the table and that everyone supports. Some of them are viable changes, but others are not,” said the head of US diplomacy in a press conference with the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohamed bin Abdelrahman.

Visibly upset, Blinken said that you reach a point in a negotiation “where if one party keeps changing their demands, even making demands and insisting on changes to things they have already agreed to, you have to ask yourself whether they are proceeding in good faith or No”.

Determined to bridge the gaps
Likewise, he said that, together with the mediators Egypt and Qatar, his country is “determined to try to bridge the gap.”

But even if work is done so that these gaps can be bridged, “it does not mean that they will be bridged.”

“The more time passes, the more people will suffer. And it’s time to end the haggling and start a ceasefire. It’s as simple as that,” Blinken said in the last part of his eighth tour of the Middle East since last October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel and caused the death of some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 200, triggering a war. in the Gaza Strip that has caused more than 37,000 deaths.

Asked if Israel should also be pressured, Blinken said: “Israel accepted the proposal. Just as it was. And Hamas didn’t do it, so I think it’s pretty clear what has to happen. We are determined to try to work on that in the coming days. “We are going to work on this urgently and see if the loopholes are feasible.”

And he insisted that “it is clear” to everyone that in the event that it is not accepted, Hamas has made “a choice to continue a war that they started.”

Pressure for both parties
On the other hand, the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, assured that “both parties”, both Israel and Hamas, “need to make some concessions to reach an agreement.”

“If we talk about pressure, the pressure must be on both sides,” said Bin Abdelrahman, who highlighted the “contradictory statements of some Israeli officials,” who also “must be put under pressure.”

Their role as mediators, indicated the Qatari official, is to try to close the gaps “and not judge one party or the other.”

Blinken and Bin Abdelrahman refused to specify the changes that Hamas has proposed to the truce proposal presented twelve days ago by US President Joe Biden.

However, a Hamas official told EFE today on condition of anonymity that his group “has proposed a new calendar for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal from all of Gaza, including Rafah,” in the south of the Palestinian enclave, and that connects Egypt with the Strip.

The changes also deal with clarifications on whether the ceasefire is temporary or permanent – ​​the key issue in this negotiation – as well as the complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deadlines during which this procedure will be carried out.

The informant insisted that “there are no fundamental changes regarding the prisoner exchange, but rather some issues related to the ceasefire and when it will be permanent.”

That proposal, supported last Monday by a UN Security Council resolution, offers Israel and Hamas a six-week, three-phase plan to end the war in Gaza.

In addition to a ceasefire, the plan contemplates the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, increased aid to Gazans, among other points, and in a final phase a process for the reconstruction of the enclave. Source: Infobae

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