US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent three hours on August 19 discussing a ceasefire plan for Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the talks, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced that Israel had accepted the US plan for a truce. It remains to convince Hamas: on August 18, the group announced that it rejected the US proposal because it took into account Israel’s new demands but did not include the wishes of the Palestinians. Hamas has not yet decided whether to send representatives to Cairo, where a new round of talks will take place this week.
