Washington:
Ahead of talks in Cairo, U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday asked the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to help Hamas agree to a deal with Israel, a U.S. official said.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been engaged in behind-the-scenes negotiations for weeks to secure a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and release hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
The White House said earlier on Friday that talks would take place in Cairo over the weekend, but did not confirm U.S. media reports that CIA Director Bill Burns would meet with Mossad chief David Bania, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Reports of Abdurrahman Al Thani attending the event along with the Egyptian Prime Minister. Intelligence chief Abbas Kamal.
A senior Biden administration official said that in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden “made clear that all measures must be taken to secure the release of hostages, including those held by Hamas terrorists for nearly Six Months for U.S. Citizenship.” AFP requested anonymity.
The official said Biden on Friday “wrote to the president of Egypt and the emir of Qatar on the status of the negotiations and urged them to ensure that Hamas agrees to and abides by its commitments in the agreement.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters earlier that Biden’s call with Netanyahu included discussions “to complete the hostage deal so that his negotiators can reach (a) conclusion on it.”
“The basic fact remains true: Had Hamas agreed to release this category of vulnerable hostages – the sick, the wounded, the elderly and young women, there would have been a ceasefire in Gaza today,” the U.S. official said Friday night.
Hamas launched a shock attack on October 7 that killed about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
Palestinian agents also took about 250 hostages, of whom about 130 remain in Gaza, 34 of whom the Israeli army said were dead.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, Israeli retaliation has killed more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children.
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