On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Washington without a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken traveled to the Middle East last week to negotiate the White House’s “bridging” ceasefire deal. White House officials had hoped the plan would minimize the differences between Israeli and Hamas proposals. Although it had received the backing of mediators from Qatar and Egypt, both Israeli and Hamas officials were critical of the planned agreement.
Before returning home, Blinken stopped in Qatar to speak with negotiators, saying that establishing an agreement is urgently needed.
Hamas ultimately did not send representatives to the negotiations last week. Instead, it used international mediators from Egypt and Qatar.