US National Security Adviser John Kirby denied on Monday that the negotiations had broken down. On the contrary, they are very “constructive”, claims Kirby in a briefing to the press.
“The conversations have actually progressed to a point where they felt the next logical step was to have lower-level working groups sit down and hammer out these finer details,” says Kirby.
Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser who has participated in the talks, is due to leave Cairo soon after staying an extra day to kick off the task force talks, according to Kirby.
One of the topics the working groups will deal with is the exchange of hostages in Hamas’ captivity and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The details that need to be clarified include how many and which hostages are to be exchanged, as well as how quickly they are to be released.
Hamas rejects
Hamas rejects the American claim that it is approaching a ceasefire.
Taher Al-Nono, adviser to former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, says on Monday that Kirby’s statement is untrue and that “their purpose is to support the occupation’s positions”.
Hamas stated on Sunday that it would not accept what it described as new demands from Israel, and that it would stick to the proposed cease-fire agreement from July.
More issues of contention
The United States, which is mediating with Qatar and Egypt, has repeatedly expressed optimism and faith that the talks will lead to a ceasefire. This despite the fact that Israel and Hamas have made it clear that they are far from each other.
Among the central issues of contention is Israel’s demand to retain military control over the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5 kilometer long strip of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. Hamas demands a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egypt is said to have also repeated that it will not accept any Israeli presence at the border.
Kirby also says that Sunday’s flare-up in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has had no impact on the negotiations.
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2024-08-27 07:44:12
