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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet Tuesday with Jordanian officials and the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Gaza amid a push to seal a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas and bring in more badly needed aid to the Gaza Strip.
Blinken was set for separate talks in Amman with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and King Adbullah II, before his meeting with U.N. Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.
Blinken said Monday during a stop in Saudi Arabia that he is hopeful Hamas will accept what he characterized as Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a cease-fire in Gaza in return for the release of hostages.
“In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas,” Blinken said in Riyadh.
“They have to decide — and they have to decide quickly,” Blinken said of the militants that Israel declared war on after their October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. “I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision.
“We can have a fundamental change in the dynamic,” Blinken said.
A delegation from Hamas participated in talks Monday in Egypt, which with Qatar has been seeking to broker a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and see hostages freed. Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, a figure that Israel says includes several thousand Hamas fighters.
