WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Officials will gather in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for negotiations to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal this week, the White House said Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
“As the president said last week, teams will continue technical work, and senior officials will convene again in Cairo before the end of the week,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters en route to Chicago, Illinois.
She said Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region to reaffirm the United States’ 'ironclad commitment' to Israel's security and to continue 'intensive efforts' to conclude an agreement."
“We're working to get this deal. That's our commitment. That's our focus,” she said, adding President Joe Biden has been “very much engaged” in talking to leaders of the region.
Paying his ninth trip to the region since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct 7 last year, Blinken met Monday with Israeli officials including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He is scheduled to visit Egypt and Qatar in the coming days.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar announced last week following ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital Doha that they had presented Israel and Hamas with a “bridging proposal” to further narrow “remaining gaps in a manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
The Palestinian group Hamas said Sunday that the new proposal only meets "Netanyahu's conditions and aligns with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction (which separates the north and south of the Gaza Strip), the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor (in the south).”
The Israeli onslaught has since Oct 7 has killed nearly 40,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,600, according to local health authorities.
--BERNAMA-ANADOLU
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