Blinken holds out hope for hostage deal and appeals to Israel’s moderate politicians a day after Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ ceasefire demands as ‘delusional’ instead vowing to push on with military operations in Gaza

Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed ways to secure the release of hostages from Gaza with moderates in Israel’s war cabinet on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Hamas’ demands as “delusional.”

Blinken met in Tel Aviv with Benny Gantz and Gabi Eisenkot, two former military leaders who joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters in Israel.

The talks will focus on “the hostages and the strong desire that we both have to see them returned to their families, the work that is being done to that end,” Blinken said as they opened the meeting.

“The most pressing issue, of course, is finding ways to get the hostages back,” Gantz told Blinken.

“If that happens, many things can be accomplished,” he said.

Earlier, Netanyahu branded the terrorists’ demands as “bizarre” and said that agreeing to them would “only provoke another bloodbath” when they were “one finger away from a decisive victory.”

Blinking at Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister said a day earlier that the only hope for peace was “total victory.”

But in a sign that they were still open to negotiations, he added that his officials “haven’t really committed to anything” in terms of the details of a deal.

Hamas had outlined the most detailed plan yet for an agreement that would see the release of every hostage in exchange for 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and an end to the war.

It proposed three phases of 45-day releases, starting with all women, male citizens under 19, the elderly and the sick in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners.

The IDF would then have to withdraw from populated areas and cease air operations before releasing the male soldiers in exchange for other convicts.

Blinken, on his fifth visit since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, toured the Middle East, delivering a Hamas response to Israel to a hostage deal via Qatar.

But Blinken said he still saw room for negotiations to improve the deal and secure the hostages’ release.

Israel has made destroying Hamas’ government and military capabilities one of its wartime objectives, and Hamas’s proposal would effectively leave it in power in Gaza and allow it to rebuild its military capabilities.

Blinken downplayed the stance, saying it was part of the difficult negotiating process. ‘It’s not a light switch. It’s not a yes or no,” he said.

Blinken has downplayed Netanyahu’s comments, saying the entire process ‘doesn’t turn on a light switch’

Blinken is seeking to advance ceasefire negotiations while pushing for a larger post-war settlement in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a “clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian stands’.

But the increasingly unpopular Netanyahu is opposed to Palestinian statehood, and his aggressive governing coalition could collapse if he is seen to be making too many concessions.

“While there are some obvious non-starters in Hamas’s response, we believe it creates room for reaching an agreement, and we will work on that relentlessly until we get there,” he said.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.

Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas in response and launched airstrikes and a ground offensive that killed at least 27,708 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages on October 7. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, of whom 29 are believed to have been killed.