US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that his country is making persistent efforts to pressure the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to accept President Joe Biden's proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israeli Channel 12 revealed that the United States of America insists on changing one word in the Israeli proposal submitted to Hamas in order to conclude a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Blinken explained at a conference at the Brookings Research Institute in Washington that the US administration is working with its Arab allies to develop a plan for the future of Gaza, stressing that there are three things that the United States will not accept in Gaza after the war: the Israeli occupation, the return of Hamas to power, or vacuum and chaos.

He added, "We continue to work with Egypt and Qatar to put pressure on Hamas and fill the gaps regarding the ceasefire proposal, but there must be a clear and verifiable Israeli plan to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip the day after the war."

He also stressed that efforts are now focused so that the war in Gaza does not turn into a war in northern Israel, and that all parties do not want such a war.

In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is approaching the end of the phase of eliminating Hamas' military capabilities and will continue to destroy the armed remnants of Hamas.

Yesterday, at the beginning of the weekly government session, Netanyahu said that Israel is committed to achieving all war goals, and that it is still adhering to its proposal to reach an exchange deal, which was welcomed by the US President.

Netanyahu accused Hamas of being the one preventing the conclusion of the deal, as he put it.

one word

In a related context, Israeli Channel 12 revealed that the United States of America insists on changing one word that has great meaning in the Israeli proposal submitted to the Hamas movement in order to conclude a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli channel said on Monday that the United States is trying to pressure Hamas to reach an agreement even before the intense fighting in the Gaza Strip ends.

Unnamed senior Israeli sources familiar with the details of the negotiations reported that the new wording proposed by the Americans focuses specifically on Article 8 of the agreement, which talks about the negotiations that will take place in the first phase of the deal regarding the second phase.

According to the Israeli channel, Article 8 stipulates the following: “No later than the sixteenth day, indirect negotiations will begin between the two parties in order to finalize the conditions for implementing the second phase of the agreement, including everything related to the keys to the release of abductees and prisoners.”

The channel confirmed that Hamas expressed its reservations about this clause in its last response, because it feared that Israel would then add other conditions, such as “discussing the number of prisoners who will be released, placing restrictions on some names, or raising demands on various issues such as the disarmament of the Gaza Strip.” .

The channel continued, "Because of Hamas's hardline position, the Americans are pressing to add one word to the article, and perhaps it will be the word 'only', which means that the discussion will only be about the keys to releasing the prisoners and not about additional conditions. In this way, Washington is trying to tempt Hamas to return to the table." Negotiations.

The Israeli channel pointed out that at this time, it cannot be said that there is much optimism in Israel regarding the success of the change that the Americans want to make.

The Israeli channel said: Unless there is a dramatic shift, the current phase of the war in the Gaza Strip will end without an agreement. Hamas, the United States of America, or Israel did not comment on this report.

nothing new

A few days ago, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said that there is no real new development in the negotiations to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip that has been continuing for the ninth month in a row, pointing out that what is being reported from officials in the US administration aims only to put pressure on the Hamas movement. These statements do not contain anything new.

Hamdan added - in a press conference from Beirut on Saturday - that Hamas received a new proposal from the United States recently, but it did not include a permanent ceasefire or the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip.

He explained that the movement is ready to deal seriously with any formula that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and a real deal.

On June 23, Netanyahu told the private Channel 14, which is close to him, that he was ready for a partial deal to return some of the prisoners detained in Gaza, stressing the necessity of resuming the war after the truce to complete its goals.

Netanyahu then retracted his statements, and said before the General Assembly of the Knesset (Parliament): We will not end the war until we return all the kidnapped people, living and dead, and we are committed to the Israeli proposal that US President Joe Biden welcomed, according to his claim.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a war on Gaza that left more than 124,000 Palestinians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens of children.

Israel continues this war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the miserable humanitarian situation in Gaza.