The US State Department announced that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Egypt today, Tuesday, while the Wall Street Journal saw this visit as an indication of an “imminent breakthrough” on the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) axis, amid American talk of a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The US State Department said Blinken will hold meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire and recover Israeli prisoners held in Gaza.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday that Washington is continuing its dialogue with partners in the region, especially Egypt and Qatar, to present a revised proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Officials have been saying for weeks that a new proposal for a deal that would include the release of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas fighters in Gaza in the October 7 attack would soon be put forward.
Miller told reporters that Washington is working with mediators on what the proposal will contain and ensuring that it “move[s]the parties to a final agreement.”
“I don’t have a timeline other than to say that we are working expeditiously to develop this proposal,” he added.
For its part, the American Wall Street Journal said that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Cairo, and not to Israel, is an indication that a breakthrough on the Philadelphia axis is imminent.
The newspaper explained that Blinken’s visit to the region comes “to reassure Israel about Hamas’s inability to smuggle weapons through the Philadelphi Corridor.”
Months of talks have failed to reach an agreement to end the war, which has now entered its 12th month.
Hamas said last week that it was ready to implement a ceasefire based on the previous proposal without any conditions from any party.
US officials say most of the terms of the agreement have been agreed upon, but negotiations are still underway to overcome two major obstacles: Israel’s demand that its forces remain in the Philadelphi (Salah al-Din) corridor to maintain a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, and details of exchanging Israeli detainees for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.