White House insists it is making progress on Gaza ceasefire as talks continue over the weekend
The Hindu
Ceasefire talks in Cairo continue as U.S. and Mideast allies push Israel and Hamas for agreement.
The White House said on Friday that ceasefire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue over the weekend as the U.S. and Mideast allies continue to press Israel and Hamas to forge an agreement.
CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the U.S. side of negotiations that began on Thursday amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain forces in two strategic corridors in Gaza.
“There has been progress made,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “We need now for both sides to come together and work towards implementation.”
Kirby did not detail where progress had been made, but he did insist that there’s been momentum in the conversations among the mediators from the U.S., Israel and Hamas' interlocutors Egypt and Qatar.
Biden took a break from his family vacation in Santa Ynez Valley, California, on Friday to call Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss developments in the negotiations.
Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant Hamas and Hezbollah groups, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.
Israel and Hamas have been at loggerheads over the Philadelphi corridor alongside Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim east-west corridor across the territory. Hamas is demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.