The Biden administration’s efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas through shuttle diplomacy continued on Tuesday, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken scheduled to visit Egypt in a new attempt to “establish broader regional security.”
The United States, working with Egypt and Qatar, has been leading indirect negotiations to end the deadly war in Gaza, which has been raging for nearly a year since a horrific Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas left 1,139 people dead and 251 abducted from Israel.
But Blinken’s visit, his 10th to the Middle East since the October 2023 terror attacks, is unlikely to bring an end to the war.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks after arriving in El Alamein, Egypt, on August 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohat/Pool)
Israeli defence minister says only ‘military action’ will allow people to return to their homes amid Hezbollah threat
State Department spokesman Matt Miller told reporters on Monday as U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant that there was “no deadline” for an agreement.
“We’re trying to work quickly to develop a proposal and find something that both parties can agree on,” he added.
The Biden administration had seemed hopeful last month that it was close to reaching a ceasefire agreement, but the deal appears to have stalled after both Hamas and Israel imposed conditions over access to the Philadelphia Corridor, a non-negotiable issue for both sides.
Blinken’s latest visit is not expected to lead to any major breakthroughs and came just a day after Israel’s security cabinet updated its war aims against Hamas as well as Hezbollah.
The goals, which already included eliminating Hamas military and government structures in the Gaza Strip, returning all hostages and ensuring a safe environment for Israelis living along the southern border, now also include the safe return of some 60,000 Israeli nationals to their homes in the north.


Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (right) meets with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo on August 20, 2024. (Photo: Egyptian Presidential Palace/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Hezbollah relies on ‘sophisticated’ tunnel system backed by Iran, North Korea in fight against Israel
More than 65,000 Israelis fled their homes along the northern border with Lebanon after the Oct. 7 terror attacks amid fears that Hezbollah could launch a similar attack against Hamas.
Despite Hamas’s devastating attacks last year, security experts have long warned that Hezbollah, which is financially and militarily more powerful than Hamas, poses a greater threat to Israel’s security.
In a statement late Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said Israel would “continue taking active steps” to achieve the new “goal” of returning its citizens to their northern homes.


Israeli soldiers evacuate a wounded person following a cross-border attack from Lebanon into Israel on the Israeli side of the border as cross-border hostilities continue between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on September 1, 2024. (Reuters/Ayyar Margolin)
Click here to get the FOX News app
The statement came after the prime minister and defense minister said on Monday that Israel was considering changes to its military posture along its northern border.
Neither Netanyahu nor Gallant have detailed what these security changes would entail, but both have sought to make it clear to the United States that Israel intends to do what it believes is best for its security.
Fox News’ Yonat Frilling contributed to this report.