Blinken aims to ‘cross finish line’ on Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal as Israeli strikes intensify

Washington wants to see a ceasefire deal in Gaza concluded and the hostages brought out in the next two weeks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

A renewed push is under way to reach a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and return Israeli hostages before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington wants a ceasefire deal in the next two weeks. Credit: AP

“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining,” Blinken told a press conference in South Korea, when asked whether a ceasefire deal was close.

Israel and Hamas wrangled on Sunday over the details of a deal to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip and return hostages home, as Palestinian officials said intensified Israeli bombardments had killed more than 100 people over the weekend.

A Hamas official said the group had approved a list of 34 Israeli hostages to be returned as part of a deal that could eventually lead to a ceasefire. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office swiftly issued a statement saying Hamas had not provided a hostage list.

Later, the Hamas official provided Reuters a copy of the list showing the names of 34 hostages it agreed to set free in any possible ceasefire deal with Israel.

The effort comes amid a surge in Israeli military action in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed 105 Palestinians at the weekend, medics said. The Israeli military said it had killed dozens of Hamas militants.

The US State Department said Israel must comply with international law and do “significantly more to ensure the protection of civilians”. It added, however, that it supported Israel’s right to defend itself.

Israeli negotiators were sent on Friday to resume talks in Doha brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and US President Joe Biden’s administration, which is helping to mediate, has urged Hamas to agree to a deal.

Hamas said on Friday that it was committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible, but it was unclear how close the two sides were.

A Hamas official told Reuters any agreement to return Israeli hostages would hinge on a deal for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire or end to the war.

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the Khan Younis refugee camp.Credit: AP

“However, until now, the occupation continues to be obstinate over an agreement over the issues of the ceasefire and withdrawal, and has made no step forward,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu has consistently said the war will end only once Hamas is eradicated as a military and governing force.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants on communities in southern Israel in which about 1200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military campaign has since levelled swaths of the enclave, driving most people from their homes, and has killed 45,805 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Israeli soldiers prepare to be deployed to the Gaza Strip.Credit: AP

Israeli military strikes continued throughout the Gaza Strip on Sunday. An airstrike killed five people in a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, Gazan health officials said, and another killed four in Jabalia in the north of the enclave.

Later in the day, an airstrike hit a police station in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing five people, medics said. It was not immediately clear if all the dead were police.

At nightfall, medics said an Israeli airstrike had killed three people in Bureij camp in central Gaza, bringing Sunday’s death toll to 17.

The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas militants operating from the humanitarian area in Khan Younis, and an Islamic Jihad militant who it said had carried out attacks from the humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah.

In Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, relatives and neighbours rushed to the Zuhd family’s house, which was struck by an Israeli airstrike late on Saturday, killing seven people, medics said. The search continued on Sunday for four others believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Three men dug away debris with their bare hands to retrieve bodies and search for possible survivors.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces had attacked more than 100 targets across Gaza over the weekend, killing dozens of Hamas militants. It said it had also destroyed rocket launching sites that had been used to wage attacks on Israel in recent days.

Later on Sunday, it said it had killed last week in the Jabalia area an Islamic Jihad militant who had participated in the October 7 attack on Israel.

Reuters

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.