“In the coming days we will share with Israel, and [Qatar and Egypt] will share with Hamas, our thoughts — the three [mediators] — on exactly how to resolve the remaining outstanding questions, and then it will be time for the parties to decide yes or no, and then we’ll see,” Blinken said during a press conference in Haiti.
He reiterated, on the record, what a senior Biden administration official had told reporters on Wednesday — that Israel and Hamas have reached agreement on 90 percent of the issues, with the main remaining obstacles being Israel’s deployment in the Philadelphi Corridor and issues surrounding the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
Blinken acknowledged that each day that goes by without a deal allows for “an intervening event, which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart.”
On Sunday, US President Joe Biden said his administration was “very close” to presenting the parties with a final offer. READ MORE
