Blinken urges final push for Gaza ceasefire before Biden leaves office
(MENAFN) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged on Monday for a last push for a Gaza ceasefire ahead of Leader Joe Biden leaves office, following a Hamas leader said to a news agency the group had made a list of 34 prisoners as first to be freed under a truce.
“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining,” Blinken stated in a news meeting in South Korea, when asked whether a ceasefire deal was close.
Israel has sent a crew of mid-ranking government to Qatar to discussions brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. According to some reports in the Arabic media, Mossad chief David Barnea, who has been in charge of the discussions, was anticipated to accompany them. The office of the Israeli prime minister remained silent.
With some indications of progress but little of a change in some of the fundamental demands that have so far prevented any truce for more than a year, it is still unclear how close the two sides are to one another.
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