TEL AVIV — Despite a Friday trip to Tel Aviv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and two visits to Washington next week by senior Israeli officials, the Israeli government and the White House are still at an impasse.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains entrenched in its positions regardless of the cost to relations with its most important ally. Israel refuses to abandon its planned operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Gazans are sheltering, and is unwilling to guarantee the entry of humanitarian assistance into the enclave.
International efforts to end the war in Gaza and free the 134 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas have gone into overdrive. Blinken landed in Israel on Friday for his seventh visit since the war started on Oct. 7, first meeting privately with Netanyahu and then participating in a meeting with the war cabinet. Meanwhile, Mossad chief David Barnea took off for Doha for another round of hostage release talks with CIA Director Bill Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Israeli delegations on the move
