DOHA: Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said Tuesday that “time is of the essence” to secure a Gaza truce as he wrapped up a Middle East tour with a plea for a deal.
The US secretary of state, on his ninth regional visit since the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war began, made a brief stop in mediator Qatar but was unable to meet its emir.
Speaking on the tarmac in Doha before heading back to Washington, Blinken reiterated his call for Hamas to accept a “bridging proposal” for a deal, which he said Israel had accepted, and asked both parties to work toward finalizing it.
“This needs to get done, and it needs to get done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line,” he said.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, said it was “keen to reach a ceasefire” agreement but protested “new conditions” from Israel in the latest US proposal.
Earlier Tuesday, Blinken flew from Israel to Egypt for talks with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who told him that “the time has come to end the ongoing war,” according to an official Egyptian statement.
El-Sisi warned of the consequences of “the conflict expanding regionally,” it said.
Blinken then traveled to Doha to meet with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, though a US official said the Qatari ruler was feeling unwell and the two will instead talk on the phone soon.
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi, minister of state at the Qatari foreign ministry, met with Blinken to discuss “joint mediation efforts to end the war,” Doha said.
Both Egypt and Qatar are working alongside the United States to broker a truce, which diplomats say would help avert a wider conflagration that could draw in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for delays in reaching an accord that would stop the fighting, free Israeli hostages and allow vital humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Medics and civil defense rescuers in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said Israeli bombardment on Tuesday killed more than two dozen people, and Israel announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages.
Mediators met last week with Israeli negotiators in Doha, and more truce talks are expected in Egypt this week.
One of the main sticking points has been Hamas’s long-standing demand for a “complete” withdrawal of Israeli troops from all parts of Gaza, which Israel has rejected.
Israeli media quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying Israel would insist on maintaining control of a strategic strip on the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi corridor.
A US official traveling with Blinken, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said that “maximalist statements like this are not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line.”
In Doha, Blinken said Washington opposes “any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel.”
Fears of a regional escalation have mounted since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond after an attack last month, blamed on Israel, killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, shortly after an Israeli strike on Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander.
Lebanon’s health ministry said four people were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday and Hezbollah claimed a string of attacks on Israeli troops, in the latest of the cross-border exchanges which have raged almost daily since the Gaza war began.
Hamas had called on the mediators to implement a framework set out by US President Joe Biden in late May, rather than hold more negotiations.
The Biden plan would freeze fighting for an initial six weeks while Israeli hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid enters Gaza.
Hamas said on Sunday that the current US proposal, which Washington had put forward after two days of meetings in Doha, “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions.”
And on Monday, in response to comments by Biden that it was “backing away” from a deal, the Iran-backed group said the “misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire.”
Hamas officials as well as some analysts and critics in Israel have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political gain.
The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 40,173 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.
Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN human rights office.
Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 105 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israeli army operations in Gaza have continued throughout the truce talks.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday hit a school in Gaza City where the civil defense agency said at least 12 Palestinians were killed and the military said a Hamas command center was based.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians had sought refuge in the facility, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
AFP photos showed the Mustafa Hafiz school partly reduced to rubble, with Palestinians fleeing.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Bassal and medical sources reported at least 17 killed in four separate strikes.
The Israeli military said forces had retrieved the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza district of Khan Yunis.
The United Nations said parts of a north-south Gaza road that is “a crucial passage for humanitarian missions were included in the latest evacuation order” issued by the Israeli military on Saturday.
“This has made it nearly impossible for aid workers to move along this key route,” a UN statement said, preventing “critical supplies and services, such as water trucking” from reaching those in need.
Blinken wraps up Middle East tour with Gaza truce plea
https://arab.news/z6rsw
Blinken wraps up Middle East tour with Gaza truce plea
- Blinken met earlier in the day in Cairo with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi
- Top diplomat’s visit to the region also included meetings in Israel on Monday
Palestinian PM: Gaza reconstruction advancing amid US talks, Saudi support
- In an interview with Arab News, Mohammed Mustafa said “Palestinian objective is clear,’ but we need to ‘get Gaza right first’
- Speaking at Davos panel, PM calls Kingdom a key stakeholder in the Palestinian cause
DAVOS: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa told Arab News that progress is underway in Gaza’s reconstruction talks, with clear dialogue between the Palestinian Authority, US President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
“I think the Palestinian objective is pretty clear, it has been for a long time, which is to establish their own independent state, (achieve) international resolution,” Mustafa said, noting that “we need to get Gaza right first.”
Despite a ceasefire taking hold earlier in 2025, Gaza remains under what the international community describes as an Israeli-enforced blockade. Basic supplies such as food and medicine are still subject to Tel Aviv’s scrutiny, which controls all access in and out of the Strip.
On Sunday, Trump announced that his Gaza plan had entered its second phase, in which Hamas would release all remaining hostages, Israel would free more Palestinian prisoners and fully withdraw its forces — a step international actors say should pave the way from ceasefire to lasting peace.
The formation of a technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, composed of Palestinian figures, marks the first concrete step toward implementing the plan and restoring Palestinian ownership of the next phase.
A precise timeline for reconstruction remains unclear, with analysts warning that major works hinge on Hamas disarmament — a politically fraught task assigned to the Gaza Peace Board.
“It’s going to take more than two years to fix Gaza, but at least we want to make sure that things are in the right direction,” continued Mustafa, adding that the West Bank remains part of the broader conversation.
He stressed the urgency of reunifying Gaza’s institutions with the West Bank to achieve the PA’s political goal of independence.
“Our priority is what’s happening to our people in Gaza today. Despite four months passing (after) the ceasefire, people are still dying. Yes, there is a ceasefire but it’s not fully observed due to Israeli military actions,” he said, stressing that “shelter is the biggest challenge” at the moment.
Mustafa revealed he held “very active and useful” talks with US officials on Tuesday, saying both sides “share the same goals” on the matter.
Later in his panel, Mustafa said a Palestinian reform plan is in the works with the help of partners including Saudi Arabia.
In a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mustafa said Saudi Arabia and other partners such as Egypt and Jordan were not just contributors but key stakeholders in the Palestinian cause.
“Saudi Arabia along with France have been working with us on the two state solution and integrating it,” he said.
“We want to work with the board of peace to ensure that they do their part of things to prepare for reconstruction efforts,” he added.
Mustafa said although some view the Oslo treaty as outdated, it still holds its place as an internationally recognized framework.
“According to the Oslo agreement, Israel should have withdrawn from most of the West Bank and Gaza. We want to see Israel respecting this agreement,” he said.
“The Israelis did not respect the economic part of the treaty. We are praying for a heavy price, not only in Gaza and people being killed every day. But also actions on the ground in the West Bank. We said clearly, we want to achieve our goals by peaceful means,” he said.
“Israel today holds $4 billion of our government’s money. They control the borders and collect the tax fines. For the past four months they have sent zero dollars. Our ability to govern has been impacted due to this,” Mustafa said.
In a sideline interview with Arab News, Palestinian Ambassador to Switzerland Ibrahim Mohammad Khraishi said that he met an Egyptian minister who expressed hope that the Rafah crossing could soon reopen on both sides.
“We need the understanding from all,” Khraishi said. “Yes, we have this administrative committee (as part of the Gaza Peace Board), but without the Palestinian Authority, they cannot deliver. Because we have everything. We have the institutions, we have the government,” Khraisi said.
Commenting on recent West Bank developments, including Israeli bulldozers razing the UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, he warned: “This is the scenario for the Israelis. For them, there is nothing to talk about. It’s total crash and destruction. Now, what they are doing in West Bank is on the way.”
