US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that a ceasefire deal is very close and that its announcement is "ready to be implemented if Hamas accepts."

“I believe we will get a ceasefire in Gaza,” Blinken said in his remarks to the Atlantic Council. “Whether we get there in the remaining days of our administration or after January 20th, I believe the agreement will closely follow the terms of the agreement that President Biden put forward last May and that our administration rallied the world behind.”

His final speech as US Secretary of State was interrupted three times by activists in the hall who said, “You enabled the Israeli genocide in Gaza…the blood of innocents is on your hands and will haunt you forever,” which disconcerted the Secretary, but he was able to regain his breath and move on with his speech.

Blinken said the agreement would ensure a ceasefire and the return of the hostages, revealing that 7 Americans are still being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

He explained that the administration of current US President Joe Biden had conveyed the plan for the future of Gaza to President-elect Donald Trump "to move forward with it."

Blinken accused Hamas of trying to "kill the two-state solution and the Oslo Accords," saying that "no one can force Israel to accept a Palestinian state ruled by Hamas or any other extremist organization," without mentioning successive Israeli governments in nullifying the long negotiations on a Palestinian state.

"We seek to end the war in Gaza in a way that will lay the foundation for lasting peace... and advance the legitimate aspirations of Israelis and a state for Palestinians," Blinken said, adding that "our principles were that Gaza under Hamas would not pose a continuing threat to Israel and that the war in Gaza would stop."

He explained that work is underway to formulate a plan that includes the day after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and how to govern the Strip, noting that if an agreement is reached regarding Gaza now or after January 20 (the day of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump), it will be an expression of the framework that Biden had set on May 31, which the world approved in the Security Council (on June 10) and “but Hamas rejected.”

Blinken revealed that there is a body that will take over the rule of the Gaza Strip the day after the war and will hand over the rule to the Palestinian Authority, stressing the need to "ensure that Hamas is unable to rule the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian Authority, after its reform, will take over the rule of the Strip."

Blinken stressed, "No one can force Israel to accept a Palestinian state ruled by Hamas or any other extremist organization, and the new agreement must not affect Israel's security or its status," he said.

He accused the Palestinian Authority of corruption and its leadership of anti-Semitism, but demanded that Israel release the clearing funds.

"The new ceasefire agreement must not affect Israel's security or its status," he added, while saying that "the Israelis must abandon the myth that they can implement annexation de facto."

In this context, he considered that Israel is "expanding settlements in the West Bank at a rapid pace," calling on it to "accept a time-bound and conditional path to building a Palestinian state."

Blinken said that reaching an agreement to unify the West Bank with the Gaza Strip "will take effort."

Blinken also spoke about the latest developments in Lebanon, Syria and Iran, saying that President Biden "took quick steps to prevent the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East", after "Hamas wanted to ignite a regional war."

He continued, "Hamas' military capabilities and its ability to rule the Gaza Strip have been undermined, and Iran's capabilities have declined," revealing that "Iran has lost its path of support for Hezbollah."