Blinken: ‘90% is Agreed’ on Gaza Ceasefire Deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port Au Prince on September 05, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port Au Prince on September 05, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/Pool via REUTERS
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Blinken: ‘90% is Agreed’ on Gaza Ceasefire Deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port Au Prince on September 05, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port Au Prince on September 05, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday it was incumbent on both Israel and Hamas to say yes on remaining issues to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, which has faced obstacles in negotiations across months.

"Based on what I have seen, 90% is agreed but there are a few critical issues that remain," including the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said at a press briefing in Haiti.

He said there were also some gaps in the agreement in how Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged.

"I expect in the coming days, we will share with Israel, and they (Qatar and Egypt) will share with Hamas our thoughts, the three of us, on exactly how to resolve remaining outstanding questions," Blinken said, referring to the US and mediators Qatar and Egypt.

President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal on May 31, but since then gaps have remained on a final agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza.

Hamas has rejected any Israeli presence in the Philadelphi corridor, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not abandon the corridor.

This week, Türkiye, five Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority joined Egypt in rejecting Israel's demand to keep its troops deployed in the Philadelphi corridor.



Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)

Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials or armed groups. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.