Never before has an agreement on an “intermission” seemed so close since the last break, more than two months ago. Antony Blinken, the American Secretary of State, met this Wednesday, February 7, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and even essential,” said the head of American diplomacy, on his fifth trip to the region since the start of the war.