'Space for agreement' on captives in Gaza still possible: Blinken

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Feb 2024 04:19

The US Secretary of State tells reporters in "Tel Aviv" that Hamas' response to the Paris Document "creates space for agreement to be reached."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with the Israeli occupation president Isaac Herzog in occupied al-Quds on February 7, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday an agreement to release Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip remained possible and called for protecting civilians as the Israeli occupation prepares to invade packed Rafah.

Earlier, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas' demand for a ceasefire and ordered the Israeli military to prepare to invade the city of Rafah in Gaza's far south, where more than one million Palestinians have sought refuge.

Netanyahu considered that accepting what he called Hamas' "bizarre demands" for a ceasefire would not lead to the release of the Israeli captives.

"While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas's response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there," Blinken told reporters in "Tel Aviv" hours after meeting Netanyahu.

Asked about Netanyahu's rejection, Blinken said he is "not going to speak for Israel" but that the Hamas response at least offered an opportunity "to pursue negotiations" on captives.

Blinken did not call on "Israel" not to bomb Rafah after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "alarmed" by the prospects of the plan, but voiced concern.

"Israel has the responsibility -- has the obligation -- to do everything possible to ensure civilians are protected," Blinken said.

Any "military operation that Israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost in mind," he said of Rafah.

Netanyahu had told a televised briefing that he had ordered troops to "prepare to operate" in Rafah, claiming that a "total victory" was just months away.

Blinken said he told Netanyahu and other officials that the death toll each day in Gaza "remains too high."

He said he also voiced alarm to Netanyahu about "actions and rhetoric" by extremist members of his government that "inflame tensions that undercut international support and place greater restraints on Israel's security."

The US Secretary of State considered that the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood "cannot be a licence to dehumanise others. The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks on October 7."

Elsewhere, Blinken called for "a concrete, time-bound and irreversible path" to a Palestinian state. That vision, according to the US diplomat, includes "an Israel that’s fully integrated into the region, with normal relations with key countries including Saudi Arabia."

On Wednesday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that Saudi Arabia will establish diplomatic relations with "Israel" only if a Palestinian state is recognized within its 1967 borders with the eastern part of al-Quds as its capital and the aggression on the Gaza Strip is ended.