LONDON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday ended his 11th round of Middle East shuttle diplomacy in a familiar place — without achieving a Gaza ceasefire.

But after persistent disappointment, Blinken this time is trying a new approach that starts by figuring out what happens after a ceasefire.

When he last visited Israel in August, Blinken publicly said it could be the “last chance” for a US-proposed deal that would offer a temporary ceasefire and free prisoners.

Blinken has kept trying, announcing with key mediator Qatar on Thursday that negotiators will restart ceasefire talks.

In recent weeks, Blinken and US officials have been sparing in their use of the word “ceasefire”, instead calling more generally for an end to the war and release of hostages.

His discussions have increasingly focused on a plan to govern Gaza that sidelines Hamas, the militant group which has ruled the impoverished and densely populated territory since 2007.

The goal is to offer Israel the option to declare victory and pull out on its own — but with confidence about the future -- if a deal cannot be reached.

In Qatar, Blinken said he was looking to “develop a plan for what follows so that Israel can withdraw from Gaza, so that Hamas cannot reconstitute, and so that the Palestinian people can rebuild their lives and rebuild their futures under Palestinian leadership”.

Throughout the trip, which ended on Friday with meetings with Arab ministers in London, he said he spoke on “concrete ideas that we’ve been developing for security, for governance, for reconstruction in Gaza”.

“This is a moment for every country to decide what role it’s prepared to play and what contributions it could make in moving Gaza from war to peace.”

In Israel, Blinken said the country had achieved most of its strategic aims in Gaza by “degrading Hamas” and last week killing the group’s leader Yahya Sinwar.

Sinwar’s death led President Joe Biden to send Blinken to the Middle East, just days before the US presidential election in which the Democrats and their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, have faced criticism for not doing enough to rein in Israel.

Whatever Blinken’s diplomacy, war has kept raging with further suffering.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024