--- title: "US secretary of state meets Israeli premier amid ongoing Gaza cease-fire talks" type: "post" post_id: "6898" slug: "us-secretary-of-state-meets-israeli-premier-amid-ongoing-gaza-cease-fire-talks" canonical: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2024/08/19/us-secretary-of-state-meets-israeli-premier-amid-ongoing-gaza-cease-fire-talks/" markdown_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2024/08/19/us-secretary-of-state-meets-israeli-premier-amid-ongoing-gaza-cease-fire-talks.md" json_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2024/08/19/us-secretary-of-state-meets-israeli-premier-amid-ongoing-gaza-cease-fire-talks.json" txt_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2024/08/19/us-secretary-of-state-meets-israeli-premier-amid-ongoing-gaza-cease-fire-talks.txt" published: "2024-08-19T13:24:28+00:00" modified: "2024-08-19T13:24:28+00:00" author: "penny2" categories: - "Uncategorized" tags: - "Iran" - "Israel" site_name: "PFYT2" publisher: "" language: "en-US" generator: "easyPress Markdown" generator_version: "1.0.6" --- > **US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu** as part of ongoing efforts to reach a prisoner exchange agreement and a cease-fire in Gaza. > > **The US Embassy in Israel released a photo of Blinken and Netanyahu meeting in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office in Western Jerusalem.** > > The **top US diplomat arrived in Israel Sunday** evening on his ninth regional visit to advance efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Hamas. > > **Blinken is also scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before concluding his visit to Tel Aviv with a press conference.** > > Earlier Monday, **Blinken warned that the ongoing Gaza cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas may be the last opportunity to end the war**. > > ***“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,”*** Blinked said during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to The Times of Israel daily. > > **Blinken is also expected to visit Egypt on Tuesday,** according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. > > **Cease-fire talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, concluded on Friday by presenting *“a proposal that narrows the gaps”* between Israel and Hamas that is consistent with the principles set out by US President Joe Biden on May 31.** **A proposal that narrows the gap means there is no agreement** **Yes, the last ceasefire proposal was made by the US- Not Israel as the media has so often lied about.** **And Israel didn’t accept at that time- I do not see them accepting at this time- Israel has not and does not want a ceasefire- I’ve yet to see anything that suggests that coming out of Israeli press or government/leadership** > Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza. > > For months, the **US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.** > **But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war.** > **Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire,** Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. > > The Israeli onslaught has since killed nearly 40,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,600, according to local health authorities. > > More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine. > > Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6. **Anthony Blinken is making the rounds in what appears to be a last attempt to prevent a greatly enlarged and more deadly war in the region.** **Again, were looking at a situation that did not have to be had the US stopped arming Israel and stopped being an obvious and dishonest “peace” broker in the region**