Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Washington. AP
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby and the State Department official said Blinken would travel to the Mideast this weekend as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to prepare for post-conflict reconstruction and governance of Gaza, ramp up humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, release captives held by Hamas and prevent the war from spreading.
The trip comes as discussions over a cease-fire and captive release are intensifying, but also as fears grow of a regional conflict.
“These negotiations, our negotiations, are very, very active," Kirby said, noting talks held last weekend between CIA Director William Burns, senior Israeli and Egyptian intelligence officials and Qatar's prime minister. “We believe that the discussions have been productive. They’ve been moving in the right direction.”
He also recalled a recent trip to the Mideast by national security council official Brett McGurk, a call between President Joe Biden and the emir of Qatar, whose country is the chief interlocutor with Hamas, and he said: Blinken “will be heading back over to the region at the end of this week.”
The State Department official said Blinken would be traveling to the Middle East “in the coming days” but could not give exact dates or destinations because the trip was still being planned. On his previous visits, Blinken has stopped in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Iraq.
Hamas studying proposals
Hamas is reviewing plans for a three-stage truce with Israel which foresee a weeks-long halt to the Israeli war on Gaza, a source in the Palestinian group told AFP on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Hamas said it was mulling proposals drawn up by mediators in Paris for a second truce nearly four months after the war began.
While a November pause to the fighting lasted a week, the latest accord aims to pave the way for an initial six-week halt to the fighting.
Over that period Israel will release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners who are not deemed high-security detainees, in exchange for 35 to 40 captives held in Gaza, the Hamas source close to Egyptian and Qatari mediators said.
Only "women, children and sick men over 60" who are captive in Gaza will be freed at this stage, the Hamas source told AFP, declining to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.
Palestinian militants seized about 250 captives during the Hamas operation against Israel on 7 October.
Israel says 132 of the captives remain in Gaza.
At least 29 captives have been killed by Israeli bombardment on the strip.
Short link: