Both Israel and Hamas need to urgently resolve their remaining issues and finalize a Gaza truce, as most of the deal is already agreed upon, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference during a visit to Haiti, he stated that “based on what I’ve seen, 90% is agreed, but there are a few critical issues that remain where we need to be able to get agreement.” He stressed that “it’s really incumbent on both parties to get to yes on these remaining issues.”
Blinken cautioned that every day that the deal is not finalized and the two sides don’t say “yes, period,” is a day “in which something else happens and there is an intervening event which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart.”
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that 90% of the deal with Hamas is done, calling the claims “exactly inaccurate.”
“There’s a story, a narrative out there that there’s a deal out there… that’s just a false narrative,” he told Fox News on Thursday. “There’s not a deal in the making,” he added, saying, “unfortunately, it’s not close.”
Netanyahu has vowed that he will not remove Israeli troops from the strategic 14km strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor, arguing that an Israeli military presence there is vital to ensure victory over Hamas.
The Palestinian militant group has also vehemently rejected any continued Israeli presence in the corridor.
The Israeli prime minister’s refusal to budge on the issue has become one of the key obstacles to finalizing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hostilities between Israel and Hamas flared up when the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,100 people and taking more than 200 others hostage. Some were later released through prisoner swaps or were rescued by the Israeli Army. According to Israel, Hamas is still holding over 100 people captive in Gaza.
Israel’s massive military retaliation has reportedly claimed the lives of over 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.