US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived late Tuesday night to discuss what he called a “serious offer” for a deal in which Hamas would release the remaining 136 Israeli hostages in exchange for a long-term halt in the war in Gaza. I visited there.
Blinken’s visit will be his sixth since the war began with the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. In Hamas terror attacks, the terrorist organization has killed around 1,200 people in Israel, often brutally, and abducted 243 people as hostages in Gaza.
Together with our partners in Qatar and Egypt, we are committed to not only repeating the previous cessation of hostilities, but also extending this to a serious campaign aimed at achieving the release of the remaining hostages and scaling up humanitarian relief to Gaza. I have submitted a proposal. pic.twitter.com/rp11i57XOj
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 6, 2024
Early Tuesday, it was reported in both Israeli media and the White House that Hamas had accepted the offer. Details of the response were not disclosed, but Israeli media reported that Hamas believed that any hostage deal would result in a permanent end to the war (thus allowing the organization to survive with its weapons and leadership intact). He suggested that he continues to insist that
Separately, reports say the Biden administration wants to facilitate a permanent end to the war with a potential deal it sees as a gateway to a broader deal that includes Saudi-Israeli peace and a Palestinian state. Also appeared. Israel has repeatedly rejected the idea of retributing Hamas’s terrorism by establishing a Palestinian state as a result of Hamas’ efforts.
After his last trip in January, Mr. Blinken went to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and suggested that the Israelis, not the Arab world, were not ready for a peace deal with the Palestinians, and that the Israelis caused a controversy by cursing him.
Blinken will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As of this writing, it was unclear whether a press conference would be held where members of the media could ask questions of the Secretary of State.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. He is the author of the recent book, The Zionist Conspiracy (And How to Participate in It), now available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
Photo: File
