US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday blamed Hamas for blocking a ceasefire in Gaza and called on countries in the region to pressure the terror group to accept the plan announced last week by President Joe Biden. “The only party that has not yet accepted this plan is Hamas. My message to the governments in the region is that if they want a ceasefire, they must put pressure on Hamas to say yes. If they want to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, they must put pressure on Hamas to say yes,” Blinken said after meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, the first stop for the US diplomacy chief. . .on a new tour of the region. Despite Blinken’s claims that Hamas is the only obstacle to a ceasefire, there are doubts about Israel’s position in ensuring that it will not agree to a permanent cessation of hostilities without the release of all hostages and the complete destruction of the terrorist group. For Hamas, Blinken’s statements are proof of US “bias” in favor of Israel and “cover up the Holocaust carried out by occupying forces in the Gaza Strip.” DETAILS
Unilateral agreement
According to NBC, the United States admits that it negotiated a unilateral agreement with Hamas for the release of five Israeli-American hostages.
TERRORIST JOURNALIST
Israel says three of the four hostages released Saturday were being held captive in the home of an Al Jazeera journalist. The Arab TV channel denies this.
the hostage’s father died
Almog’s father Meir Jana, one of the freed hostages, died hours before the military operation that led to his son’s release.