The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will travel to Saudi Arabia to try to restart fraught ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel and discuss efforts to prevent spiralling regional conflict.
Blinken is due to arrive in Riyadh on Monday for diplomatic talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, to discuss ceasefire negotiations and humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
He will also “emphasise the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and discuss ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel”, according to the state department.
Egyptian officials have stepped up their own efforts to mediate talks between Hamas and Israel, after a new proposal that would initially see a small number of hostages held in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinians in the territory to be able to return to their homes.
An Egyptian official told Associated Press that mediators were working on a compromise solution to answer both parties’ main concerns, intended to set the stage for further negotiations to end the war entirely.
Hamas took 250 people hostage on 7 October, when the group attacked towns and kibbutzim around Gaza in an unprecedented attack that killed 1,136. In the months since, Israeli bombardments of Gaza have killed an estimated 34,000 people and levelled most urban centres.
Israeli attacks on sites in southern Lebanon have also risen, amid an increase in missile and drone attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Israeli territory, prompting fears of a regional escalation and causing alarm to international êllies.
The French foreign minister, Stéphane Séjourné, began a visit to Lebanon on Sunday in an effort to cool tensions along its southern border. Séjourné recently issued a proposal that would see Hezbollah’s elite unit withdraw 6 miles from the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon, if Israel agreed to halt strikes inside Lebanese territory.
In Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, chaired a meeting with his counterparts from Jordan and Egypt as well as diplomats from Qatar, the UAE and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza and efforts to achieve an independent Palestinian state.
As diplomatic efforts across the region rose, Israeli media reported that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s primary concern was his fear that the international criminal court could imminently issue an arrest warrant against him, as well as top Israeli officials and fighters in the Israeli military.
“While decisions made by the court in The Hague will not affect Israel’s actions, they will set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and public figures,” he said in a statement on Friday.
International pressure on mediators to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza has risen as Israel forces say they are prepared to attack the southernmost city of Rafah with government approval.
The move to attack a city where over a million people are currently believed to be sheltering has prompted fears of extreme loss of human life, and risks sounding the death knell on talks to free hostages or find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
A delegation from Hamas is due to arrive in Cairo on Monday as high-ranking members said they were reviewing a current ceasefire deal. The organisation has said it is unwilling to compromise on demands for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, as well as the “unconditional” return of Palestinians to the northern part of the territory.
The state department blamed Hamas for being unwilling to compromise before Blinken’s departure. “The secretary will discuss ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and how it is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire,” they said.
As Egypt stepped up mediation efforts, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson and adviser to the prime minister Majed al-Ansari gave a rare interview to the Israeli outlet Haaretz discussing Doha’s continuing frustrations with months of negotiation efforts.
“Right now, what we are seeing is that every time we get close to a deal, every time we find new ideas to present to the table, there is sabotage talking place,” he said, blaming both parties for the talks falling apart.
“We do not want to be used as part of prolonging this conflict,” he said. “We are reassessing the commitment of both sides, and one of the main reasons for this is that we’ve gotten all of these statements that contradict the show of commitment to the talks themselves.”
