U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing any major breakthrough for a cease-fire deal, warning on Tuesday that “time is of the essence” even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Our message is simple, it's clear, and it's urgent.
00:06We need to get the ceasefire and hostage agreement over the finish line.
00:11And we need to do it now.
00:15Time is of the essence.
00:17Israel has now accepted that proposal.
00:19I heard that directly from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.
00:22And we hope and expect that Hamas will do the same.
00:26That's the critical next step.
00:27But once that happens, we also have to complete the detailed implementation agreements
00:35that go along with putting the ceasefire into effect.
00:39And there, it's very important that everyone do what's necessary
00:46to bring the flexibility to the table to make sure that we can get the implementation agreed
00:53and that the parties to the ceasefire can make good on the commitments that they've made in the agreement.
01:01So that's a process that's ongoing at the same time.
01:05We're engaged every single day with Israel, and our Qatari and Egyptian partners are engaged with Hamas.
01:13And over the coming days, we are going to do everything possible
01:20to, one, get Hamas on board with the bridging proposal,
01:24and then to make sure that both parties work on and agree to necessary details of implementation
01:32that would allow everything to go forward.
01:34The United States does not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel.
01:41More specifically, the agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza.
01:53And Israel has agreed to that.