Blinken, Bahrain Crown Prince discuss hostage deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa met on Saturday in Bahrain’s capital of Manama, where they discussed a potential ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported.

The two officials “discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire of at least six weeks in Gaza as part of an agreement to secure the release of hostages,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

He added that Blinken pledged support for regional efforts to “promote calm” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Blinken and Al Khalifa also talked about attacks by the Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea area, Miller said, and the two leaders “reaffirmed their shared commitment to international law and freedom of navigation.”

The conversation between the two took place as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a hostage release deal are set to resume.

Mossad Director David Barnea is expected to meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar in Doha on Sunday as part of the negotiations for a hostage deal.

The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that the first stage of the currently proposed deal would include a 42-day ceasefire, which in the second stage would become permanent.

Hamas is demanding that in the first stage, displaced Gazans would be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip and to allow for aid to reach the north and for there to be freedom of movement.

The newspaper also reported that Hamas is demanding the release of 50 terrorists, 30 of whom are serving life sentences, for every living Israeli female soldier, woman, child, elderly, and sick person in captivity.

At the beginning of the second stage, Hamas is demanding the declaration of a permanent ceasefire before any prisoner swap that would include the male soldiers in captivity. In the third stage, the terror organization demands the reconstruction of the entire Gaza Strip.