Washington, 24 August 2024 (TDI): The White House has said that ceasefire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue over the weekend as the United States and Middle East allies continue to press Israel and Hamas to forge an agreement.
William Burns, CIA Director, and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the US side of talks that started on Thursday amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that there has been progress made. We need now for both sides to narrow the gaps and work toward implementation.
Kirby did not detail where progress had been made, but he insisted that there has been momentum in the talks among the mediators from the United States, Israel and Hamas’ interlocutors Qatar and Egypt.
President 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 talks.
Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional conflict after the recent targeted assassinations of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.
Hamas and Israel 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 full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
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Netanyahu insists that Israel will control the Philadelphi corridor, with the aim of preventing the rearming of Hamas and a repeat of the atrocities of the October 7 attack on Israel.
He also denied reports that Tel Aviv would be willing to accept an international force in the corridor.
Hamas on Friday pushed back that Netanyahu was blocking any chance to reach a ceasefire agreement.
