WHITE House national security spokesman John Kirby said the United States is hopeful a prisoner exchange deal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still possible.
“We are cautiously optimistic that things are moving in a good direction,” Kirby said in a television interview when asked if a ceasefire deal was imminent.
“There are still gaps between the two sides. We believe those gaps can be narrowed, and that’s what Brett McGurk and CIA Director Bill Burns are working on right now,” he said.
US Middle East envoys McGurk and Burns are currently in Egypt meeting with their counterparts from Egypt, Israel and Jordan, with “further discussions” scheduled in the coming days, Kirby said.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has warned that Israel’s deadly military offensive on Gaza, which has intensified in recent days, might push the talks back to square one. (Al Jazeera/Z-3)
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