Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with key negotiators Thursday during a frenetic four-day exercise in Middle East shuttle diplomacy that aims to relaunch talks to pull the grinding war in Gaza to a close.
On Thursday, he announced $135 million in additional U.S. aid for Palestinian civilians. He also reiterated President Joe Biden's stance that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week by Israeli forces was a reasonable stopping point to this brutal conflict sparked on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants stormed the Israeli border, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
"Israel has accomplished the strategic goals that it set out for itself: making sure that October 7th and the horrors can never happen again by effectively dismantling the military organization of Hamas," Blinken said, speaking from Doha, Qatar.
"It has succeeded in doing that and bringing to justice its leaders, those who perpetrated the horrors of October 7th, notably Sinwar," he added. "Now that that's been accomplished, this is a moment to work to end this war, to make sure all the hostages are home and to build a better future for people in Gaza."
Qatar's leader and top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who serves as both prime minister and foreign minister, appeared with Blinken. He said negotiators had reengaged with Hamas. But he went on to paint a murky picture of the future.
"Regarding our communication with Hamas and the leadership after Sinwar — yes, we reengaged with them," he said. "We've been in an engagement with representatives from the political office in Doha. We had some meetings with them the last couple of days. I believe that until now, there is no clarity what will be the way forward or the clear position."
Not much optimism
Analysts aren't hopeful that this fire can be doused, especially after Israel began targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing its leader. The U.S. considers Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist organizations.
"To be entirely honest, it's not entirely clear why Tony Blinken is making another trip to the region," said Gerald Feierstein, director of the Arabian Peninsula Affairs Program at the Middle East Institute. "There doesn't seem to be any particular prospect that he's going to achieve anything new or different than the last 10 times that he's been out there," he told VOA.
A top U.S. Muslim rights advocacy group pointed to what he said were two stumbling blocks to a deal: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's top supporter, Biden.
"Mr. Netanyahu, for political and ideological reasons, has no interest in agreeing to a permanent cease-fire that frees all the hostages, pulls all Israeli troops out of Gaza and ends the war once and for all," Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told VOA. "The only way to force him to do it is to withhold the weapons. So, I do not expect Mr. Blinken's trip to succeed without that missing element."
These delicate diplomatic moves are happening well over the heads of the people who have to live through this on both sides of this bristling border.
On Thursday in central Gaza, at least 17 Palestinians — among them, children — were killed in an Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were taking shelter.
And on Thursday in Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters marched to demand the release of Israeli hostages who were abducted on October 7, 2023.
VOA's Kim Lewis contributed to this report from Washington. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
