Can Blinken secure 'last chance' Gaza ceasefire deal?

This is "maybe the last opportunity" to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Gaza, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his latest visit to Israel.

Blinken arrived on Sunday for "11th-hour talks aimed at shoring up" a lasting ceasefire in the region. But both Israeli and Hamas officials signalled that a breakthrough "may not be as close as international mediators had suggested", said The Guardian.

The visit comes as part of a renewed push from Washington to broker a ceasefire, with negotiations "seen as even more urgent" after the assassinations of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and the Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

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Meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, Blinken said that the ongoing talks were "a decisive moment". They were "probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security".

What did the commentators say?

The current negotiations are based on proposals presented by the US aimed at "bridging long-standing gaps" between Israel and Hamas, said the BBC. But while the Americans "hope they can get the deal over the finish line perhaps as soon as this time next week", that "level of optimism is not shared by the Israeli leadership or Hamas". Each side is accusing the other of "obstinate cynicism, and blocking a deal".

In July, Hamas and Israel agreed in principle to implement a three-phase framework publicly proposed by the Biden administration in May. But Hamas has since said the latest version of the proposal "diverges significantly from the initial plan". New Israeli demands include "a permanent Israeli military deployment along the Gaza-Egypt border and the Netzarim corridor, the new Israeli-controlled barrier cutting off Gaza City from the south of the strip", said The Guardian. Hamas has said that suggestions of progress are "an illusion".

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, described his government's approach as one of "give and take", not "give and give", said The New York Times. 

Many within Israel are "not convinced" that Netanyahu "wants to make the concessions required, fearful his far-right partners in government will collapse his government", said Sky News. Despite the "huge amount of diplomacy under way" from the international community, "many ifs and buts remain if any of this is to end in a ceasefire".

"Blinken has made nine trips to the Middle East since the war broke out," wrote Bethan McKernan in The Guardian, "and has come away empty-handed almost every time." Critics say the US and regional powers negotiating the deal should be "applying more pressure", said Sky News. "America should threaten Israel, they say, with the suspension of military aid, while Qatar and Egypt should threaten Hamas with punitive measures if they reject the deal."

What next?

After two days of talks in the Qatari capital Doha last week, in which the so-called "bridging proposal" was announced, negotiations are expected to resume in Cairo on Wednesday or Thursday.

Washington hopes a ceasefire will "reduce tensions in the Middle East and dissuade Iran and Hezbollah from retaliatory action that could cause the war in Gaza to slide into a region-wide conflict", said McKernan. It is also "keen to broker a deal before its focus inevitably turns towards November's US elections".