US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv (Reuters)

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza, with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and War Council Minister Benny Gantz, in two separate meetings. He also met with the military commander and member of the war government, Gabi Eisenkot, the day after Prime Minister Benjamin Benjamin’s refusal. Netanyahu demands Hamas.

Blinken said in a post on the

He added that many lives have been lost, the hostages (Israelis in Gaza) are still being held far from their loved ones, and civilians (in Gaza) are still suffering as a result of this conflict, as he put it.

Blinken stressed that we must continue to work on finding solutions while keeping these challenges in mind.

Blinken seemed optimistic about the negotiations and the possibility of improving the agreement and securing the release of detainees.

Return of detainees

For his part, Gantz assured Blinken that "the most urgent issue, of course, is finding ways to return the hostages." He added, "If this is done, many things can be achieved."

In turn, Lapid said during his meeting with Blinken - in reference to the efforts of the American minister and American officials, "It is good to see the extent of commitment... towards the hostages, resolving the situation and finding ways to promote peace and prosperity and, if possible, calm."

Blinken's visit to Israel comes as part of a tour that also led him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, and Israel, as part of discussing a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Blinken met on Wednesday with Israeli leaders, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Israeli media, Blinken will meet today with the families of Israeli prisoners before he ends a two-day visit to Israel.

A new round of negotiations

Today, Thursday, Egypt and Qatar will hold a new round of talks in Cairo with a delegation from Hamas.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas's demands for a ceasefire as part of a truce agreement, and pledged to expand military operations to include Rafah (south), where more than a million Palestinians were displaced.

On Tuesday, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced that it had delivered its response to Qatar and Egypt regarding the prisoner exchange and ceasefire proposal, and the Israeli mini-ministerial council is scheduled to discuss Hamas’ response.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are about 136 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while it holds no less than 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources from both parties, but there is no confirmation of the final number from both parties.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv appearing before the International Court of Justice to be tried on charges of genocide. Collective action, after a lawsuit in this regard was filed by South Africa.

Source: Agencies