Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the latest version of a U.S.-mediated cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on Monday, during his ninth visit to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack.

“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Blinken said, “he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal…It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.”

Blinken did not provide details of the proposal discussed in the 2.5-hour meeting, such as how they addressed Israel’s requirement that it continue to control the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors to ensure weapons are not smuggled to Hamas, or Hamas’ insistence on only accepting an agreement that would end the war entirely.

Even if Hamas agrees, Blinken said, “complex issues” remain and leaders will need to make “hard decisions.” The parties and mediators — the U.S., Qatar and Egypt — will need to come up with “clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement.” 

Hamas rejected the latest version of the ceasefire deal on Sunday and accused the U.S. of “align[ing] with” Israeli demands.

Netanyahu called the meeting with Blinken “good and important” without saying what, if anything, Israel had agreed to, noting U.S.-Israel joint defense efforts against a possible Iranian attack before addressing the deal and focusing the extent of his comments on the agreement on the hostage release element.

”I greatly appreciate the efforts that the U.S. is making in regional defense against the Iranian axis,” the prime minister said. “I also greatly appreciate the understanding that the U.S. has shown for our vital security interests as part of our joint efforts to bring about the release of our hostages. I would like to emphasize the efforts to release a maximum number of living hostages already in the first stage of the deal.” 

Hours later, Israel announced that the IDF retrieved the bodies of six Israeli hostages killed by Hamas in Gaza: Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchstab, Yoram Metzger, Haim Peri, Alexander Dancyg and Avraham Munder.

Blinken also met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

Gallant showed Blinken a photo he keeps in his office of the 12 children killed in a Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, last month.

The defense minister told Blinken that “Israel’s defense establishment is committed to continue operating in Gaza until the goals of the war are achieved — the return of the hostages and dismantling Hamas.” He emphasized that continuing military pressure on Hamas until a deal is reached is important to reaching both of those goals.

Herzog also emphasized the need for pressure on Hamas.

”One has to remember the refusal, the adamant refusal” of Hamas to accept a cease-fire and hostage-release deal, the president said. “At the bottom line of it, people have to understand it starts with a refusal of Hamas to move forward.”

“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said ahead of his meeting with Herzog.

Blinken was set to travel to Doha, Qatar, and Cairo on Tuesday to continue negotiations following his visit to Israel.