Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli president Isaac Herzog that the current ceasefire proposal on the table, which has been flatly rejected by the Hamas terror group, may be the last opportunity to save Israeli captives kidnapped on October 7th who’ve been held hostage in the Gaza Strip for more than 10 months.

Israel is in “a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken told Herzog during their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday morning.

Blinken is in Israel for the ninth time since the October 7th terror onslaught, and has said that the purpose of his visit is to help “bridge gaps” between Israel and Hamas in order to achieve a ceasefire.

Speaking about the ceasefire and hostage deal agreement, Blinken said that “it’s time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process.”

He added that Washington is “looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.”

Notably, Blinken avoided placing the blame for the delay on the Hamas terror group, despite the fact that they have rejected the current proposal and refused to participate in the ongoing negotiations.

“It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no,” Blinken added.

Herzog said that Israel is “surrounded by terror from four corners of the earth, and we are fighting back as a resilient and strong nation, and this also is reflected in the attitude of Hamas in the negotiations for the release of our hostages.”

He stressed that the delay in securing a ceasefire “starts with Hamas’ adamant refusal…to move forward.”

Image - Reuters