Egypt – US President Joe Biden made two phone calls on Friday evening with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad, focusing on joint mediation efforts to end the war on the Gaza Strip.
This came according to two statements by the Egyptian presidential spokesman, Ahmed Fahmy, and the Qatari Emiri Diwan.
Fahmy said in a statement on Facebook that Biden’s call with President Sisi “came within the framework of the intensive mediation efforts being made by the two countries to cease fire in Gaza and exchange detainees.”
He added that during the call, “the latest developments in the negotiation round currently hosted by Cairo were reviewed,” as the two presidents stressed the importance of the concerned parties’ commitment to overcoming obstacles and showing flexibility to complete the agreement.
Sisi stressed that “reaching an immediate ceasefire agreement is of utmost importance at this critical time, whether to put an end to the catastrophic humanitarian suffering in the Strip, or to end the escalation and spare the region the woes of expanding the scope of the conflict, with its serious repercussions on all the peoples of the region.”
On August 15 and 16, the Qatari capital, Doha, hosted a round of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and prisoner exchange. At the conclusion of the talks, the mediators announced that Washington had presented a new agreement proposal to reduce the gaps between Israel and the Palestinian factions movement.
Meanwhile, an Israeli security delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday to participate in the ceasefire talks in Gaza, with negotiations expected to resume next Saturday or Sunday.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said on Friday that “the meetings that took place on Thursday between the Egyptian and Israeli delegations did not result in any progress,” without giving further details.
In Doha, the Qatari Emiri Diwan said in a statement that Biden’s call with Emir Tamim on Friday evening addressed “developments in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, and joint mediation efforts to end the war on the Strip.”
The statement added that during the call, “the strategic relations between the two countries and ways to support and enhance them were discussed, in addition to discussing regional and international developments.”
Despite mediation led by Egypt and Qatar alongside the United States for months and the presentation of one agreement proposal after another to end the war on Gaza and exchange prisoners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to add conditions for accepting the agreement, which Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Mossad chief David Barnea previously warned would hinder reaching a deal.
These conditions include “controlling the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt, the Rafah border crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of Palestinian faction fighters to northern Gaza (by inspecting returnees through the Netzarim corridor).”
The families of the prisoners and a large segment of the Israeli street and political establishment accuse Netanyahu of deliberately obstructing the deal, fearing the dissolution of the right-wing government and his trial for the “corruption” crimes he is accused of after leaving power.
For its part, the Palestinian factions insist on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a complete cessation of war to accept any agreement.
Anatolia
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2024-08-25 04:20:40
