Blinken says Israel has agreed to Gaza withdrawal terms in ‘bridging proposal,’ despite reported comments from Netanyahu

By Jennifer Hansler, Alex Marquardt and Michael Conte, CNN

Doha, Qatar (CNN) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that despite reported comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has agreed to withdrawals of IDF forces from Gaza that are laid out in the recent mediators’ proposal to get closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“The agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that,” said Blinken in remarks to reporters before departing Qatar.

Blinken was responding to Israeli media reports that Netanyahu told a group of families of terror victims and hostages that he conveyed to Blinken that Israel will not leave the Philadelphi corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border and the Netzarim corridor, which bisects Gaza, “regardless of the pressure to do so.” They are “strategic military and political assets,” Netanyahu added, according to the reports.

Blinken and other US officials have declined to detail the proposal the US laid out last week. The ceasefire deal is structured in three phases and would eventually include the full withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. But Israeli officials have repeatedly insisted that a solution must be found to better control the Egypt-Gaza border, which has long been used for smuggling.

The location of troops in the Philadelphi corridor and the question of whether Palestinians will be able to able to return home in the north have been two of the biggest hurdles in the ceasefire negotiations. Hamas has insisted that the IDF withdraw fully from Gaza and that citizens must be allowed to return home.

Blinken said that Netanyahu told him directly in their meeting that Israel agreed to “the bridging proposal and thus the detailed plan” for withdrawal.

A US senior administration official strongly pushed back on Netanyahu’s comments about not withdrawing, calling them “maximalist statements” that are “not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line.”

Blinken was speaking in Qatar at the end of a short trip to the region as the US makes what it hopes is a final push for all sides to agree to ceasefire agreement that would halt the fighting in Gaza and free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

The top US diplomat said Monday in Israel that the onus was now on Hamas to also agree to the latest proposal to bridge the outstanding issues.

Following top-level meetings in Doha last week, follow on negotiations meant to hammer out the final details of a potential agreement between Hamas and Israel have continued with experts from the different sides. The senior negotiators, including CIA Director Bill Burns, are expected to re-convene in Cairo later in the week or over the weekend.

Even as US officials stress the urgency of the need for an agreement, they have begun to downplay the prospects of a full-fledged agreement being reached quickly.

On Tuesday, the top US diplomat noted that even if the bridging agreement is agreed by Hamas and Israel, “we also have to complete the detailed implementation agreements that go along with putting the ceasefire into effect” and urged flexibility.

Once Hamas agrees to the proposal, Blinken said, it will be “very important that everyone do what’s necessary to bring the flexibility to the table to make sure that we can get the implementation agreed.”

Blinken referred back to the so-called Tokyo Principles that state the US will not accept “any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel.”

Blinken wrapped his trip the region on Tuesday with stops in Egypt and Qatar. A senior administration official said he had “very productive” meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, and intel chief Abbas Kamel. Blinken was slated to meet with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in Doha Tuesday night, but the meeting was canceled. A US official said the Qatari leader was unwell. The top US diplomat instead met with Minister of State Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi. On Monday, Blinken met in Israel with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog.

On Tuesday, Hamas released a statement criticizing both the top US diplomat and President Joe Biden as being “misleading” about the group’s position on a ceasefire agreement. The statement also asserted that mediators in Egypt and Qatar “know that (Hamas) dealt positively and responsibly in all previous rounds of negotiations,” and again blamed Netanyahu for obstruction.

A senior administration official on Tuesday suggested that Hamas has not sent a formal response to the bridging proposal, noting that Egypt wants to see a response from the group as soon as possible.

The official also stressed that even if both sides agree to the bridging proposal, there will still need to be additional conversations on specific details and technical and implementation commitments.

“We fully expect as the conversations will continue, part of the next step if Hamas were to also accept this bridging proposal, is that discussions will continue on some of the more the more technical details,” they said.

Still, there is “a fierce urgency of now,” Blinken said Monday, noting that “intervening events come along that may make things even more difficult, if not impossible.”

This is “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 said in remarks earlier Monday.

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