THE US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived today at Cairo where he will hold talks with Arab officials to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Stripsince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Republican senators that his country will not stop its war against Hamas.

Blinken began a new tour of the Middle East on Wednesday from Saudi Arabia, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the war in Gaza.

“We are pushing for an immediate truce linked to the release of the hostages. This will provide immediate relief to so many people who are suffering in Gaza – children, women, men,” the US secretary told Arabic station al Hadath.

Ceasefire talks are resuming this week in Qatar after Israel rejected a Hamas proposal last week. The two sides are negotiating a roughly six-week truce, during which 40 Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

But Hamas insists it will only release the hostages as part of an agreement to end the war, while Israel says it is only discussing a temporary pause.

“I think the gap is narrowing and I think an agreement is very likely,” Blinken told al Hadath. “The Israeli team is present, it has the authority to reach an agreement,” he added.

Blinken and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reviewed the progress of the talks together, the Egyptian president’s office and the State Department said.

Sisi stressed the need for a ceasefire to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and warned of the dangers of a military operation in Rafah.

More than a million displaced people have taken refuge in this city in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave, on the border with Egypt.

“We will fight until we win the battle”

Blinken is due to meet the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan today, as well as the United Arab Emirates’ minister of international cooperation and the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee. ).

Egyptian sources said the Arab countries would emphasize to the US minister the need to find a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In his meeting yesterday with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Blinken reiterated the US commitment to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, with security guarantees for Israel.

For his part, Netanyahu addressed Republican senators yesterday and told them that Israel will continue its efforts to defeat Hamas.

The tension between Netanyahu’s government and that of US President Joe Biden has been escalating in recent days, with Washington asking Israel to do more to limit the humanitarian crisis created in Gaza and protect civilians.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer speaking on the American podcast “Call Me Back with Dan Senor” said that Israel will go ahead with its plans for ground operations in Rafah, despite growing international concerns about its impact.

“We’re pretty confident that we can do it in an effective way—not just militarily but also from a humanitarian perspective,” he said.

Dermer, who has served as Israel’s ambassador to the US, added that his country would listen to American views on Rafah but go ahead with the military operation there even if Washington disagrees: “It will happen. And it will happen even if Israel is forced to fight alone.”

“Even if the whole world turns against Israel, including the US, we will continue to fight until we win the battle,” he stressed.

Dermer estimated that if Hamas cells were maintained in the Gaza Strip, it would be an open invitation for attacks against Israel from across the region: “And that is why our determination to eliminate them is so strong, even if it leads to a possible rupture with the USA”.

The Israeli minister estimated that four intact Hamas battalions remain in Rafah, reinforced by fighters who retreated from other areas of Gaza, 25% of the Palestinian organization’s strength before the outbreak of war.

“We will not leave a quarter of them in their place. We will go to Rafah because we have to (…) And I think what people don’t understand about October 7 is that it was an existential moment for Israel.”