U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday as he began a Middle East tour he hopes will increase diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip this week.
The visit marks Blinken’s 10th visit to the region since the start of Israel’s war with the terrorist group in October.
A senior State Department official said the secretary was scheduled to meet with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday.
After his visit to Israel, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Egypt to continue his tour.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East on Sunday ahead of renewed efforts toward a ceasefire in Gaza. (REUTERS/Elisabeth Franz/Pool/File)
A senior Biden administration official told reporters on the way to Tel Aviv that talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and agreement to release hostages were at a “turning point,” adding that Blinken would stress to all parties the importance of finalizing the agreement.
“We believe this is a critical time,” the official said.
“The secretary intends to use his visit to continue to emphasize the importance of getting this deal done, starting with Israel,” the official added. “I think it’s clear that not only will it benefit the Israeli people, it will also help ease some of the suffering in Gaza.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured, is due to meet this week with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/File)
Qatar, the United States and Egypt are mediating the talks but have failed to bring Israel and Hamas to an agreement after months of on-and-off negotiations.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office released a statement on Sunday saying serial leakers were preventing the deal from moving forward.
“For months they maintained that Hamas would never agree to an end to the war as a condition of any agreement and proposed caving in to Hamas’ demands,” the statement said. “They were wrong then and they are wrong now. The prime minister insisted on this fundamental demand, which is essential to achieving the war’s objectives, and Hamas changed its position.”
The prime minister’s office said Netanyahu continued to insist that Israeli troops remain in the Gaza-Egypt border area known as the Philadelphia Corridor to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza.
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“The prime minister remains committed to pursuing an agreement that maximizes the number of surviving hostages and achieves all of the wartime objectives,” the office added.
Fox News’ Yonat Frilling and Reuters contributed to this report.
