The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday as part of his efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, saying that “the time is now” to reach an agreement that would release hostages and achieve a temporary halt to the war that has been ongoing for nearly seven months in Gaza.

He said that Hamas would bear responsibility for any failure to reach an agreement.

This marks Blinken's seventh visit to the region since the outbreak of the war in October in an attempt to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas that could prevent an Israeli incursion into the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are located.

The current round of talks appears serious, but the two sides remain far apart on one key issue - whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal.

Blinken told Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Tel Aviv: "We are determined to achieve a ceasefire that brings the hostages home now, and the only reason that has not happened is Hamas."

He added, "There is a strong proposal on the table, and as we said, no delays and no excuses. The time is right now."

Blinken stated that the agreement would also allow much-needed food, medicine, and water to enter Gaza, where the war has triggered a humanitarian crisis and caused the displacement of many residents of the strip.

He also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, although details of the meeting were not immediately available.

Earlier, after his meeting with Herzog and also with families of Americans held by Hamas in the hotel where he was staying, Blinken briefly encountered dozens of protesters calling for an immediate hostage release agreement on the sidewalk outside.

The protesters urged Netanyahu to hear their cause as they chanted “SOS, USA, only you can save the hostages today” and “In Blinken we trust, bring them home to us.”

Blinken told the families that a very strong proposal was on the table and that Hamas needed to say yes to it. He said, "That is our determination, and we will not rest, and we will not stop until you are reunited with your loved ones."

His remarks came at the final stop of his regional visit, with previous stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where he urged Hamas to accept the latest proposal, describing it as "very generous" on Israel's part.

According to the State Department, he will also visit an Israeli port where aid to Gaza is being introduced.

The U.S. has strongly supported Israel's war since the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel. However, it has increasingly criticized the heavy civilian casualties among Palestinians in Gaza and has been particularly outspoken against Israel's plan to invade Rafah, the city located at the southernmost point of Gaza, where about 1.5 million Palestinians have fled fighting elsewhere in the strip.

Washington has warned Israel against any attack that endangers civilians.

Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade Rafah, which he says is Hamas's last stronghold in the coastal enclave, and pledged on Tuesday to do so "with or without" a ceasefire agreement.

The current agreement being discussed - mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar - would see the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a six-week halt to fighting as part of an initial phase, according to an Egyptian official, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including some serving long sentences.

However, there remains a sticking point about what would happen afterwards. Hamas has demanded guarantees that the eventual release of all hostages would end the nearly seven-month-long Israeli assault on Gaza and the withdrawal of its forces from the devastated strip.

Israel has offered only a lengthy pause and has pledged to resume its assault once the initial phase of the deal concludes. This issue has repeatedly stalled mediators' efforts over months of talks.

While talks appeared to gain momentum, an Egyptian official said on Wednesday that Hamas had asked Egyptian and Qatari mediators for clarifications regarding the terms of the latest ceasefire proposal under discussion, a demand that could delay progress.

The official, who has close ties to the talks and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the deal freely, said Hamas wants clear terms for the unconditional return of displaced individuals to northern Gaza and guarantees for the second phase. The agreement would include discussions about the gradual and complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from all of Gaza.

The official stated that the current plan does not fully clarify who would be allowed to return to the north and how decisions would be made about that.

While talks continue, fighting in Gaza persists. Late on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in central Rafah - a city that Israel has repeatedly bombed despite it being a refuge for many - resulting in the deaths of at least two children, according to hospital authorities. The bodies of the deceased children were taken to Abu Yusuf al-Najar Hospital. A journalist from the Associated Press witnessed the bodies in the hospital’s morgue while their relatives mourned their deaths.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it is conducting operations in central Gaza where it said its aircraft targeted militants, including one fighter who was reportedly planting explosives.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after the unprecedented attack on October 7 on southern Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 hostages. Israel claims that militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

The war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The conflict has displaced about 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents from their homes, caused widespread destruction in many towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.