Israel Agrees To A Ceasefire Proposal, Ball Is Now In Hamas' Court: US Secretary Of State Antony Blinken

Israel has agreed to a United States-led 'bridging proposal' that has raised hopes of a ceasefire agreement being signed with Hamas at the earliest.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to an American proposal for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and "it is now up to Hamas to agree".

Blinken and Netanyahu met in Tel Aviv for talks regarding the ceasefire proposal, which Netanyahu's office said takes into account Israel's security needs.

Blinken will now travel to Egypt and Qatar to urge Hamas to sign the deal.

The Israelis will also send a team to Egypt and Qatar for a new round of talks involving Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators.

The US is hoping that the deal will be signed this week, with Blinken stating that this "may be the last opportunity" to secure a ceasefire agreement. However, both the Israelis and Hamas believe that this might take some time, contrary to the American belief of signing it by this week.

Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas overran Israel's borders on 7 October, killing and raping thousands of Israeli citizens and taking close to 250 hostages.

In the assault, Hamas claims that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the humanitarian crisis is worsening.

Earlier, in a deal signed in November, 105 hostages were released in exchange for some 240 Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israeli prisons. Another 111 are still in Palestinian captivity, of which at least 39 are presumed dead.

The proposal will follow the principles set by US President Joe Biden on 31 May, which would involve three phases.

Phase one will include a full and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza's population centres and the release of some elderly, female, and sick or wounded hostages in exchange for Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails.

The second phase will include the release of all the remaining hostages.

The third phase would involve a reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of the dead hostages.