Blinken says he believes deal on Gaza hostages 'possible'

TIRANA — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that he believed an agreement on a truce in Israel's war on Gaza and the release of hostages by Hamas were still "possible."

Mediators are racing to secure a pause to the fighting before Israel proceeds with a full-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip's far-southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians are trapped.

"So we're very focused on it and I believe it's possible," Blinken said at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana, as negotiations between mediators continue in Cairo.

"We're now in the process, with our counterparts from Qatar, from Egypt, from Israel, in working on that and working very intensely on that, with the goal of trying to find an agreement."

Blinken said there were "some very, very hard issues that have to be resolved.

"But we're committed to do everything we can to move forward and to see if we can reach an agreement."

Roughly 130 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Dozens of the estimated 250 hostages seized during the attack were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce in November. Israel says 29 of those still in Gaza are presumed dead. 

At least 28,600 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel's assault on the Palestinian territory, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel launched more deadly strikes on southern Gaza on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted it would push ahead with a "powerful" operation in the overcrowded city of Rafah for "complete victory."

Blinken on Thursday arrived for his first visit to Albania, hailing what he called an "extraordinary partnership" between Washington and Tirana, showing support for his country's Balkan ally.