The US secretary of state hopes Hamas will accept what he has called Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal.
Antony Blinken was speaking as a Hamas delegation discussed the new proposal with mediators from Egypt and Qatar.
A source close to the talks told the BBC they were cautiously optimistic.
The proposal includes a 40-day truce in return for the release of hostages and the prospect of displaced families being allowed back to northern Gaza.
It reportedly also involves new wording on restoring calm meant to satisfy Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire.
The Hamas delegation has now left Cairo and will return with a written response to the proposal, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said.
The Israeli government is coming under growing pressure from its global allies and the families of the hostages to agree a deal.
Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.
More than 34,480 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 of the hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Source BBC
