Antony Blinken blames Hamas for holding up truce as he returns to push ceasefire deal

Wounded Palestinian children receive care, after an Israeli strike, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Nidal al-Mughrabi and Daphne Psaledakis

US secretary of state Antony Blinken blamed Hamas yesterday for holding up a ceasefire in Gaza, as the top US diplomat conducted a Middle East peace mission to deliver president Joe Biden’s latest proposed plan to end the Gaza war.

Speaking after meeting Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Mr Blinken said Hamas was the only side that had yet to agree to Mr Biden’s proposal, which Washington says already had Israel’s backing before Mr Biden announced it on May 31.