US says Netanyahu supports Israel-Gaza truce talks, presses Hamas on ‘bridging proposal’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to get behind the US proposal and said Israel’s PM backed new ceasefire talks

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of a meeting in Jerusalem on Monday. Photo: dpa

Published: 2:32am, 20 Aug 2024Updated: 10:49am, 20 Aug 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he sought to free a “maximum number” of living hostages held in Gaza in the first stage of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“I would like to emphasise: the efforts to release a maximum number of living hostages – already in the first stage of the deal,” he said in a video statement released by his office after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their supporters protest in Tel Aviv on Monday. Photo: AP

Blinken on Monday said Netanyahu promised to send an Israeli team to new ceasefire talks set for this week.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu committed to sending his senior expert team back to either Doha or to Egypt to try to complete this process, but we look to Hamas, first and foremost, to get behind the bridging proposal,” Blinken said, referring to a US blueprint to close the gaps.

Blinken urged Hamas to accept the bridging proposal and hostage release deal after what he said was a “very constructive” meeting with Netanyahu.

He had earlier said the latest push for a deal was probably the best and possibly last opportunity, urging both sides towards agreement.