2024-08-09 03:42:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar have jointly demanded that Israel and Hamas resume ceasefire talks next week in their stalled Gaza war, saying Thursday they were “just details.”
“There is no more time to waste and no excuse for either side to delay further,” they said in a joint statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim Al-Thani are mediators in indirect talks to end the 10-month war in Gaza, due in August Talks will be held on the 15th, and the talks will be held in Doha or Qatar.
A senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the mediator’s proposals said there were only four or five areas of disagreement on implementation that remained to be resolved.
The official cited the prisoner exchange schedule as an example.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar said they had prepared a proposal to be presented at talks next week to resolve outstanding issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that “based on the proposals of the United States and the mediators, Israel will send a negotiating team to a to-be-determined location on August 15 to finalize the details of the negotiations on the application of the framework agreement.”
Hamas has yet to respond to the offer. The assassination of Iran’s top political leader is seen as a serious blow to cease-fire negotiations. The murder is generally believed to be the work of Israel, although the country has yet to comment on the matter.
U.S. officials said they believed Hamas could resume talks despite the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was leading the negotiations on Hamas’ behalf.
1723177549
#Mediator #calls #Israel #Hamas #resume #ceasefire #talks #week
