U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that reaching an agreement regarding the release of hostages held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is still possible, but there are "very difficult" issues that still need to be resolved. Blinken made the remarks during a press conference while visiting Albania, following days of talks involving the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar regarding an agreement that could lead to a truce in Gaza, although discussions ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday.
In response to a question about the possibility of reaching an agreement for a ceasefire before the beginning of Ramadan on March 10, Blinken noted that Hamas's previous response to a potential agreement included some "clearly unworkable things," but he pointed out the possibility of working towards an agreement. Blinken stated, "We are now working with our counterparts from Qatar, Egypt, and Israel on this and are working very intensively to try to reach an agreement, and I believe this is possible."
He further added, "There are some very, very difficult issues that need to be resolved. But we are committed to doing everything we can to move forward and explore whether we can reach an agreement."
