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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday described ongoing talks in the Middle East as potentially the last chance to release Israeli hostages from Gaza and secure a cease-fire.
“This is a decisive moment — probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said before meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Monday.
Speaking to journalists, Blinken added that U.S. President Joe Biden had instructed him “to get the agreement to the line and ultimately over the line.”
“It is time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process,” he said.
The diplomatic push comes amid fears of an anticipated Iranian and Hezbollah attack against Israel and the threat of an all-out regional war.
“We are working to make sure that there is no escalation, no provocation, that there are no actions that in any way can move us away from moving this deal over the line or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity,” he said.
This is Blinken’s ninth trip to the Middle East since Hamas’ violent October 7 attack on Israel triggered a massive military response from the Israel Defense Forces which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
He is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Monday and travel to Egypt in the following days.
U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators met in Doha on Friday and Saturday with the aim of reaching a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Biden said Friday that “we are closer than we’ve ever been” to reaching the deal.
Another summit is tentatively scheduled in Cairo on Wednesday or Thursday, the Times of Israel reports.
