LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Biden administration's top diplomat is in Israel today trying to get a cease-fire for Gaza across the finish line. Many in the region are skeptical about a deal that has been on the table for months. But Secretary of State Antony Blinken says it is time to get this done.
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ANTONY BLINKEN: This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.
FADEL: NPR's Michele Kelemen is traveling with him and joins us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So what makes now a moment that Blinken thinks a cease-fire's possible?
KELEMEN: Well, he's really convinced that there's no other way to get the hostages out, also to get aid into Gaza and to avoid a regional war. President Biden laid out kind of the basic contours of this deal back in May, and Blinken says the president sent him here to get it done.
Last week, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar put some proposals on the table that they think will bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas. So I'm hearing a lot of determination from Blinken's team, though not a lot of optimism that there'll be a real breakthrough while he's here.
FADEL: So what are those gaps that mediators are trying to bridge?
KELEMEN: Yeah. There are a few. I mean, earlier this year, Israel captured the border area between Egypt and Gaza. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that he does not want Israeli forces to leave that area called the Philadelphi Corridor. Israel also wants guarantees that if Palestinians move back to Northern Gaza, they can't take weapons to help Hamas.
And then there's this question of the hostages who have been held since October 7. It's not clear how many are alive. U.S. officials point out that there are some Americans among them. And to get them out, Israel would have to trade Palestinian prisoners that Israel may not want to release. So these are really, really difficult talks.
FADEL: And what are the two sides saying about the deal on the table?
KELEMEN: Well, Hamas and Israel blame each other for being obstacles to this deal. Hamas says that the proposals that the U.S. put on the table last week are just basically Israeli demands. Hamas wants a permanent end to the war. Netanyahu has made clear he won't promise that. The deal is for a six-week cease-fire, with a permanent one to be negotiated.
But U.S. officials say there's really no time for excuses from any side. This war has dragged on far too long. Israel has destroyed much of Gaza, and Gaza health officials say the death toll has topped 40,000 Palestinians. And by the way, the U.N. needs a temporary truce, too, because they need to get Palestinians vaccinated for polio. So there is a lot of hopes riding on this.
FADEL: And as you point out, there's also this fear of regional war. Iran threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for a strike in Tehran that killed a top Hamas official, also a strike in Beirut that killed a Hezbollah leader. Has that threat dissipated in this moment?
KELEMEN: Well, the U.S. has moved a lot of military assets to the region, and it's been sending messages to Iran and its proxies, directly and indirectly, not to do anything that could derail the cease-fire talks. And that's another reason why Blinken is here, really, is to try to keep up the momentum that diplomacy is getting somewhere.
FADEL: That's NPR's diplomatic correspondent, Michele Kelemen, from Tel Aviv. Thanks, Michele.
KELEMEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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