Blinken fully expects hostage and ceasefire deal to go into effect on Sunday
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is “confident” and “fully” expects that the ceasefire and hostage deal will go into effect on Sunday, despite a delay of a vote in Israel on the agreement.
“Look, 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 at a press conference Thursday.
“I’ve been on the phone in one way or another all morning with (Biden’s Middle East negotiator) Brett McGurk, with our Qatari friends, and I’m very confident that this is moving forward and we’ll see the start of implementation of the agreement on Sunday,” Blinken said.
Israel on Thursday morning delayed a cabinet vote on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, blaming Hamas for reneging on parts of the agreement.
Blinken interrupted by protesters over Gaza policy at final State Department press conference
A protester is removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s press conference on Thursday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final press conference at the State Department was interrupted by two protesters, who were escorted out of the briefing room after protesting US support for Israeli “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza.
“I’m happy to address questions when we get a chance, thank you,” said Blinken as the first protestor continued to shout about the US sending weapons to Israel.
Other members of the press could be heard encouraging Blinken to continue with his remarks despite the interruption.
The man was seated toward the back and stood up, recording his interaction as he yelled at Blinken before being escorted out by members of Blinken’s press team.
Blinken was again interrupted multiple times by an independent journalist who was also escorted from the room after yelling about US support for Israel.
“Please sir, respect the process. We’ll have an opportunity to take questions in a few minutes,” said Blinken as the second protestor was escorted out of the room after calling Blinken a “criminal.”
Blinken maintained he would be taking questions later and did so a few minutes after the interruptions.
Israeli cabinet vote on ceasefire-hostage agreement will take place Friday, Israeli official says
The Israeli cabinet is scheduled to convene Friday morning to approve the ceasefire and hostage release deal, an Israeli official said.
The cabinet meeting will come a day later than it was initially scheduled to take place, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that last-minute hurdles were still being resolved at the negotiating table in Doha.
The decision to convene the cabinet on Friday indicates that those outstanding issues have been resolved. The prime minister’s office previously indicated that the cabinet would only convene once those issues were resolved.
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