Blinken says he believes deal on Gaza captives 'possible'
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken admits that while a deal on a ceasefire in Gaza is possible, it is "very hard".
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed on Thursday his belief that reaching an agreement on a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza and securing the release of captives remains "possible" but "very hard".
Mediators are urgently working to achieve a ceasefire before "Israel" launches a large-scale ground invasion into the far-southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are internally displaced.
"So we're very focused on it and I believe it's possible," Blinken said alongside Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, as negotiations between mediators continue in Cairo.
"We're now in the process, with our counterparts from Qatar, from Egypt, from Israel, in working on that and working very intensely on that, with the goal of trying to find an agreement."
Blinken said there were "some very, very hard issues that have to be resolved," adding, "But we're committed to do everything we can to move forward and to see if we can reach an agreement."
Earlier this week, a source within the Resistance in the Gaza Strip revealed to Al Mayadeen on February 13 that the Israeli occupation is attempting to hollow out the contents of the Paris Document and achieve progress on the captive-prisoner exchange without "paying the price demanded by the Resistance."
The Paris Document entailed a three-stage prisoner exchange deal, but the proposal did not meet the Resistance's conditions, as it neglected the requirements for a ceasefire and a withdrawal from Gaza.
Earlier this month, several high-ranking officials in Palestinian Resistance factions spoke to Al Mayadeen following Hamas' submission of the Resistance's response to mediators on February 7.
The Deputy Secretary-General for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Mohammad al-Hindi, told Al Mayadeen that the response to the "framework agreement", also known as the Paris Document, includes clauses that speak to "fundamental principles" set out by the Resistance.
This includes the "cessation of [the Israeli] aggression, withdrawal from [the Gaza Strip], and the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip]," al-Hindi explained.
