Speaking at a hearing in the House of Representatives, Blinken said the finalizing of the agreements "could be weeks away" but cautioned that for the wider normalization to proceed, there must be calm in Gaza and the formulation of a pathway for Palestinian statehood.
"Those agreements are in principle very close to being able to be concluded. Now of course we will come to Congress with them when they're ready to be reviewed, but we're - could be really weeks away from being able to conclude them," Blinken told the House Appropriations Committee.
"However, in order for normalization to proceed, Saudi Arabia has made very clear that even with the agreements between us completed, they have to have two things: they have to have calm in Gaza and they have to have a credible pathway to a Palestinian state," Blinken added.
Sources told Reuters earlier this month that a working draft has been crafted that lays out principles and proposals aimed at putting back on track the US-led effort to reshape the volatile region that was derailed by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
However, the bigger deal still remains elusive, largely due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated rejection of any plans for the creation of a Palestinian state. READ MORE
