Hello and welcome to the details of Blinken ‘confident’ Gaza ceasefire implementation to start Sunday and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A demonstrator shouts slogans as she arrives in front of the parliament building to express her support for the Palestinians, in Rabat on January 16, 2025, following the news of a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel. — AFP pic
WASHINGTON, Jan 17 — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence that the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza would begin Sunday, as Israel awaited a cabinet vote and accused Hamas of backtracking.
“I am confident, and I fully expect that implementation will begin, as we said, on Sunday,” Blinken said at a farewell news conference yesterday.
Blinken said that he and other officials of President Joe Biden’s administration, which ends Monday, were on the telephone to try to resolve issues in the ceasefire announced Wednesday through mediator Qatar.
“It’s not exactly surprising that in a process, in a negotiation, that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end. We’re tying up that loose end as we speak,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s opening remarks were disrupted by two activists who regularly show up at press briefings. Both were asked to leave, with one of them shouting slogans as he waited for State Department security to remove him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cabinet was set to vote on the deal today. At least two cabinet members have voiced opposition to the ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s office has accused Hamas of reneging on key parts of the agreement, suggestions denied by the Palestinian militant group — as new Israeli strikes before the ceasefire kill dozens in Gaza.
In a highly unusual arrangement, an envoy from President-elect Donald Trump took part in the final negotiations on the ceasefire side-by-side with an incumbent official in Biden’s White House.
Asked about Trump claiming he sealed the deal, Blinken said: “The important thing is not who gets the credit; the important thing is getting the results.”
“Virtually everything that now needs to be implemented under the agreement will be implemented under the Trump administration,” Blinken said.
“It was very important for the parties to know that the Trump administration stood behind the agreement that we negotiated.”
Asked whether the Biden administration will leave without any determination on whether Israel has carried out human rights violations, Blinken said: “In Gaza, we faced a uniquely challenging situation in trying to make final determinations.”
“Uniquely in Gaza, besides having a population that’s been trapped there that has nowhere else to go, you have an enemy that embeds itself in and among civilians, houses, hospitals, mosques, schools,” Blinken said.
He spoke after Israel has been accused repeatedly by rights groups and the United Nations of violations in Gaza. Yesterday Human Rights Watch called out Israel for committing “crimes against humanity” and possibly “genocide” during the war.
Blinken also defended his own record on human rights, pointing to statements and sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. — AFP
These were the details of the news Blinken ‘confident’ Gaza ceasefire implementation to start Sunday for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
