BUELLTON, Calif. (AP) — The White House said Friday that cease-fire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue into the weekend as the U.S. and allies in the Middle East continue to press Israel and Hamas for a deal.
CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior Middle East adviser to President Joe Biden, are leading the U.S. side of the negotiations that began Thursday amid deep disagreements between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence on maintaining troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza.
“There has been progress,” said John Kirby, White House national security spokesman. “We now need to bring both sides together and work on implementation.”
Kirby did not provide details on the progress made, but he did stress that there is momentum in the talks between the US mediators, Israel and the Hamas interlocutors, Egypt and Qatar.
Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears of a broader regional war grow following recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.
Israel and Hamas are at loggerheads over the Philadelphia corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim corridor running east-west across the area. Hamas is demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Netanyahu has stuck to the principle that Israel will control the Philadelphia corridor, with the aim of preventing Hamas’ rearmament and a repeat of the atrocities of the October 7 attack on Israel. He also denied reports that Israel would be willing to accept an international force in the corridor.
Hamas pointed out on Friday that Netanyahu is “blocking any chance of a ceasefire.”
Asked whether Netanyahu was negotiating in good faith, Kirby noted that Biden had a “constructive” conversation with Netanyahu on Wednesday.
“We’re in Cairo. They’re in Cairo,” Kirby said. “We need Hamas to get involved. We need to get to the heart of laying down these details. And that’s what we’re focused on here.”
The war began with the Oct. 7 assault when Hamas and other militants stormed Israel, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and kidnapping about 250. The Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which makes no distinction between militants and civilians.
Biden said last week he was “optimistic” that a deal could be reached after speaking by phone with Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. That call came after a round of negotiations in Doha that White House officials said showed promise that a deal was close.
But on Tuesday, Biden was noticeably less optimistic about the prospects of the two sides reaching an agreement anytime soon. He told reporters after a speech at the Democratic convention that “Hamas has now withdrawn” but that the US “will continue to push” for a ceasefire deal.
Biden took a break from his family vacation in Santa Ynez, California, on Wednesday to talk to Netanyahu. The White House said Biden “stressed the urgency of finalizing the ceasefire and hostage release deal.”
Biden has made it clear to Netanyahu that both Hamas and Israel will have to compromise, according to an insider who asked not to be named in the private conversation.
Meanwhile, the families of the Israeli hostages said they met with Netanyahu on Friday “to understand what could be even more important than freeing their loved ones,” and expressed anger over his failure to reach a ceasefire that would lead to the release of their loved ones from Hamas captivity.
Representatives of the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing families of hostages, said Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to do everything in his power to bring their relatives home alive. More than 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, including dozens who are presumed dead.
“The word ‘alive’ limits this to a certain time frame,” said Yizhar Lifshitz, son of hostage Oded Lifshitz, whose mother was kidnapped and freed by Hamas last October. Thursday’s revelation that the autopsies of six captives — whom Israeli forces pulled from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza — were riddled with bullet wounds has increased domestic pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire that could save the lives of captives.
Ella Ben Ami, the daughter of Israeli hostage Ohad Ben Ami, said she left her meeting with Netanyahu “with a heavy and difficult feeling that this will not happen soon, and I fear for my father’s life, for the girls who are there and for everyone.”
—
Frankel reported from Jerusalem. AP journalist Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed reporting.
