U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday (August 20) after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urging Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal, Reuters reports.
Blinken said on Monday (August 19) that Netanyahu had accepted a "bridging proposal" presented by Washington to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and urged Hamas to do the same.
Talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough, but the negotiations are expected to resume this week based on the U.S. proposal to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Despite U.S. expressions of optimism and Netanyahu's office describing the meeting as positive, both Israel and Hamas have signalled that any deal will be difficult.
