In his eighth visit to the region since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, sparking the ongoing war, the top US diplomat is also set to travel to Jordan and Qatar this week.
Blinken is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo before traveling to Israel later on Monday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a US State Department schedule.
On Monday, NBC News reported that Washington officials have weighed holding independent negotiations with Hamas for the release of five US citizens among the hostages if the latest diplomacy efforts fail.
The report, which cited two current and two former senior US officials, said Israel would be cut out of the talks, which would be held via Qatar as a mediator.
The five hostages believed held who have dual US-Israeli citizenship are Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Keith Siegel, and Omer Neutra.
The White House declined to comment on the report and Israel’s Kan public broadcaster cited a government source as saying Jerusalem is unaware of any such plan.
Blinken’s visit comes after US President Joe Biden on May 31 outlined a three-phase ceasefire proposal from Israel that envisions an eventual permanent end to hostilities, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian security prisoners, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
On October 7 Hamas led 3,000 terrorists in a cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage to the Gaza Strip. In response, Israel launched an assault to destroy Hamas, topple its regime in Gaza, and free the hostages, of whom 120 still remain in captivity.
However, Biden’s framework appears snagged on the key point of whether the plan he promoted would bring an immediate and permanent end to the fighting. Hamas is insisting it must, whereas Israel has vowed to not stop until the job of eradicating the terror group is done.
On Saturday Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in central Gaza. READ MORE