Blinken Heads to Israel to Push for Gaza Cease-Fire

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Israel Friday in a high-stakes attempt to secure a cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hamas as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on a U.S. draft resolution calling for an “immediate” truce.

In Israel, Blinken will “discuss the need to ensure the defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah, in a way that protects the civilian population, does not hinder the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and advances Israel’s overall security,” according to a State Department statement.

The United States has raised opposition to Israel’s plan to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, located along the Gaza-Egypt border, which Israel says is necessary to achieve its goal of defeating Hamas and ensuring the U.S.-designated terror group cannot carry out another attack like the October 7 assault on Israel.

The United States is expected to submit a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council Friday that will “unequivocally support ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal,” a spokesperson for U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.

U.S. officials have been negotiating a text focusing on a six-week cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Blinken was in Egypt for talks Thursday focused on efforts to secure a cease-fire, gain the release of hostages and move more humanitarian aid into Gaza to help Palestinian civilians who are badly in need of assistance.

“There’s a clear consensus around a number of shared priorities,” Blinken told a news conference Thursday about his discussions in the Egyptian capital. “First: the need for an immediate sustained cease-fire, with release of hostages.”

A cease-fire would create space for more humanitarian aid, he added.

Negotiators are continuing to work on a cease-fire agreement, Blinken said.

“The gaps are narrowing, and we’re continuing to push for an agreement in Doha. There’s still difficult work to get there, but I continue to believe it’s possible,” Blinken said at the press conference.

“We’ve closed the gaps, but there are still gaps. So, I can’t put a timeline on it. I can just say that we’re committed to doing everything possible to reaching an agreement,” he added.

The main point of contention in negotiations has been that Hamas says it will release the remaining hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war, whereas Israel says it will consider only a temporary pause.

More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, many of them after fleeing other parts of Gaza to try to find safety amid the war.

Aside from the number of people killed in the war — 1,200 in the shock October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and nearly 32,000 in Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry — the delivery of humanitarian aid into the war zone to help famished Palestinians has become one of the most contentious points of conflict between Israel and its Western allies.

The United States has conducted several rounds of air drops of aid into Gaza, and efforts are in progress to make deliveries by sea. International aid organizations have highlighted the difficulty of getting aid into Gaza through limited ground crossings and a lack of access to many areas of Gaza due to the ongoing violence and the devastation left behind by the war.

VOA’s State Department bureau chief Nike Ching contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.