A senior U.S. administration official has pushed back on comments by Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing the Israeli prime minister of making “extremist comments” that are “unconstructive toward reaching a ceasefire agreement.”
The move comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarks on a tense round of regional diplomacy as Washington tries to push for progress on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Blinken held three hours of talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Monday.
He later said Mr Netanyahu had accepted what Washington called a “transition proposal” aimed at resolving thorny issues and bringing Israel and Hamas closer to a deal.
According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu later said at a meeting of the hostage families that he had “persuaded” Blinken that the deal must keep Israeli troops in Gaza, which he called a “strategic military and political asset,” including along the southern strip. . Borders Egypt.
The reported comments appear to have angered the U.S. government.
“We’ve seen the prime minister’s comments, particularly about some of these projects,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We certainly won’t be negotiating openly, but what I can say is that the only thing Secretary Blinken and the United States are sure of is the need to complete the ceasefire proposal.”
“We fully expect… that if Hamas also accepts this transition proposal, discussions will continue on some of the more technical… details.
“I would also like to add that extremist statements like these are not constructive in reaching a ceasefire across the finish line, and they will certainly jeopardize the level of implementation, the level of work and the ability to negotiate technically when both sides agree to a ceasefire. Bridge Proposal .
The senior official’s comments came after Blinken held a round of talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Tuesday in the coastal city of El Alamein.
Egyptian officials are said to be strongly opposed to the idea of Israeli troops remaining on the Egyptian border in Gaza.
After concluding his trip to Egypt, Blinken traveled to Qatar for further talks in Doha, the final stop of his Middle East tour.
The BBC has been traveling with the Secretary of State and questioning him About a conversation he had shortly before leaving Doha.
He revealed for the first time that the U.S. transition plan includes a “detailed plan” for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
“The agreement is very clear about the schedule and location of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] Withdrawal from Gaza, Israel has agreed to that,” Mr Blinken said.
Asked whether Mr Netanyahu claimed the Israeli leader had “persuaded” Mr Blinken to keep troops in Gaza, he said: “I can’t say what he quoted, I can only say where I heard it I received the content directly from him yesterday [Monday] When we spent three hours together,” he said.
“[That included] Israel endorses the transition proposals and detailed plans. The plan includes, among other things, very clear timelines and withdrawal locations.
Asked whether the proposal was a “full troop withdrawal,” Blinken said he would not comment on the details of the plan.
Hamas said the latest ceasefire proposal constituted a “coup” against the agreement reached in previous negotiations and reiterated its hope that the Gaza ceasefire plan would be based on the July negotiations rather than any new round of negotiations.
