news

[Global Network Report] According to reports from foreign media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), US Secretary of State Blinken said after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 19th that Israel accepted a proposal for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. However, on the 20th, Netanyahu said that the Israeli army would not withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and he had "persuaded" Blinken to include this in the agreement. According to reports, Netanyahu's statement seems to have angered the US government, and a senior US official said that the Israeli prime minister's "extremist remarks" were "not constructive at all for reaching a ceasefire agreement."

On the 19th local time, US Secretary of State Blinken (left) met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Photo from foreign media

According to the BBC, on the 20th local time, the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have found the bodies of six Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said at a meeting with a hard-line hostage family group that day that he "persuaded" Blinken to include a sum of money in the agreement to keep Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Times of Israel, the hostage family group that met with Netanyahu on the 20th advocated the release of their loved ones through military pressure rather than reaching an agreement with Hamas. According to the group's statement, Netanyahu told them that he was "not sure whether an agreement will be reached" and that if an agreement is finally reached, it will "safeguard Israel's interests." Netanyahu also said that he told Blinken during his meeting on the 19th that "Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphia Corridor and the Nezarim Corridor under any circumstances." According to the report, the "Philadelphia Corridor" refers to the narrow strip of land at the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and the "Nezarim Corridor" divides the Gaza Strip into two areas, north and south.

The BBC said Netanyahu's remarks seemed to have angered the US government. A senior US official told the media, "We have seen the comments of the Israeli prime minister, especially on some of these issues. We certainly will not negotiate in public, but what I can say is that the only thing that Blinken and the United States are convinced of is the need to eventually reach a ceasefire agreement... I would also like to add that extremist remarks like this are of no constructive significance to reaching a ceasefire agreement."

At the same time, The Times of Israel also reported that an unnamed source from the Israeli negotiating team also accused Netanyahu of undermining the negotiations with his remarks on the 20th. He said, "Netanyahu's statement is intended to undermine the negotiations, there is no other explanation. The prime minister knows that we are at a critical juncture and we are looking for solutions to the Philadelphia Corridor and the Nezarim Corridor."

The Times of Israel also stated that Blinken expressed opposition to Netanyahu's request for Israeli troops to remain in the "Philadelphia Corridor" and the "Nezarem Corridor." He told reporters in Qatar, "The United States does not accept any long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza. The agreement describes very clearly the timetable and scope of the IDF's withdrawal from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to this."

However, Blinken reportedly refused to directly respond to Netanyahu's latest remarks. He said, "I can't talk about what (Netanyahu) said. I can only talk about what I heard directly from him when we talked together for three hours yesterday, including Israel's support for the transition proposal."