U.S. pushes for Gaza cease-fire, seeing narrow window for a deal before Israel launches Rafah assault

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Arab leaders are expressing concerns that newly revived talks could be the last chance for a cease-fire and hostage release before the war could explode with a threatened Israeli attack on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

As Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Monday, there were urgent calls for a deal between Israel and Hamas that would head off an assault on Rafah where more than 1 million people are sheltering.

Blinken's visit came after President Joe Biden reiterated U.S. opposition to a Rafah operation in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

U.S. officials do not believe Israel is ready to launch a full-scale ground incursion of Rafah, providing a crucial window to secure a deal for a truce and the release of hostages still held by Hamas, two people familiar with the American position told NBC News.

The diplomatic push comes as protests against Israel’s actions rock college campuses across the U.S. and as Israel fears its leaders could soon face arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.

Blinken, speaking in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, said that the cease-fire proposal handed to Hamas by mediators from Qatar and Egypt was “extraordinarily generous.” He added that Hamas had to “decide quickly” about the offer and that he was “hopeful that they will make the right decision.”

An Israeli official and an Arab diplomat with knowledge of the negotiations told NBC News that the deal on the tablewould see 33 hostages freed in the first stage in exchange for a temporary cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The freed captives would be made up of women, children, the elderly,