Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Israel on Saturday to boost efforts to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
As two days of talks wrapped up in Qatar, the State Department said Friday that Blinken would travel to the Middle East to continue intensive diplomatic efforts to finalize a U.S. proposal bridging the remaining gaps between both sides.
The State Department said the agreement would be for “for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal presented today by the United States, with support from Egypt and Qatar.”
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The statement said, “This proposal would achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza, and create the conditions for broader regional stability.”
A statement from the mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt said teams will keep working in the coming days on how to implement specific measures.
Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden seemed optimistic, saying, We are closer than weve ever been to an agreement but noting were not there yet.
This would be Blinkens ninth trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with his last being in June.
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On Friday the White House said President Biden spoke with Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar and in another meeting, spoke with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt saying the conversations were “to review the significant progress made in Doha over two days of talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after two days of talks wrapped up in Doha with an agreement to continue negotiations next week, President Biden said I dont want to jinx anything but that a cease-fire was much, much closer than it was three days ago.
Senior U.S. national security officials have described the talks as some of the most constructive 48 hours had so far in the months of off-and-on negotiations over a cease-fire deal. They described the deal as both difficult and complex. Once a deal is reached, though, the officials say it could be implemented swiftly.