Blinken claims Gaza ceasefire agreement ‘very close’ to implementation

Last Updated on January 10, 2025 6:09 am

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed that the mediators are “very close” to a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages between Israel and Hamas. He said that the implementation of the agreement is inevitable, even if it has to wait until the next administration.

The Times of Israel reported this in a report on Wednesday (January 8).

Blinken, who is visiting Paris, said, “I hope to reach a ceasefire agreement very quickly., But if we don’t, the plan that President Joe Biden has put forward for the ceasefire and the hostage agreement will be handed over to the incoming administration. The administration, and I believe that when we can confirm that agreement. It will be based on the plan that President Biden put before the world in May.”

Hamas has demanded a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of the occupying Israeli forces from the valley in exchange for the release of the prisoners.

Hamas took 251 hostages from Israel during the attack on October 7, 2023. Of those, 96 are still in Gaza. Israel claims 34 hostages have already died

Hamas is ready to release 34 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the deal. However, there has been no sign of a ceasefire from Israel yet.

The latest ceasefire agreement is being brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

AFP, citing a Hamas source on condition of anonymity, said the first phase of the prisoner swap would include all women, children, the elderly and the sick in Gaza.

The official said Hamas had approved the release of the 34 prisoners, whether alive or dead. But a week of peaceful conditions is needed to contact the prisoners where they are and identify the living and the dead.

Blinken has traveled to the Middle East at least 10 times in the past year to negotiate a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza. But the effort has yet to see the light of day before the end of his term. Despite the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon, the entire crisis is not over yet.

In addition, after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel has been relentlessly attacking Syria. Israeli troops have violated the 50-year-old 1974 agreement by crossing the border buffer zone.

Marco Rubio will take over as US Secretary of State after Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20 of this month. It remains to be seen how the new Trump administration will handle the Middle East situation.