A U.S. draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council seeking an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza if all hostages held by Hamas are released, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, a month after Washington vetoed an Arab nations-led effort to enforce a ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in ... [+]
Blinken, who is on an official tour to the Middle East, told Saudi broadcaster Al-Hadath that the U.S. has put forward a resolution before the Security Council “that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages.”
Blinken said he hoped countries would support the resolution, as “that would send a strong message, a strong signal.”
Commenting on a potential ceasefire agreement, the top U.S. diplomat said it was “very much possible” as things were “getting closer…the gaps are narrowing.”
He said Hamas refused to accept a “strong proposal” that the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Israel had worked on, and came back with “other requests, other demands.”
Blinken said negotiators were working on that right now, and “if Hamas cares at all about the people it purports to represent, then it would reach an agreement.”
Blinken said Washington stands with “Israel and its right to defend itself” and prevent another October 7-style terror attack, but protecting Gazan civilians and “getting them humanitarian assistance,” was imperative.
“So I’m still hopeful that – more than hopeful that an agreement is possible, and that we can reach it…The quickest path – the quickest path to ending that is getting this immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages. Then a lot more becomes possible,” Blinken said.