The United States urged both Israel and Hamas to reach a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip, after US officials claimed that the agreement was “90% done.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a press conference in Haiti: “It is the duty of the two parties to reach an agreement on these outstanding issues,” noting that Washington will present more ideas to the negotiating table in the coming few days.
US National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby had previously claimed that “90% of the agreement is almost done.. I think we are close to that,” noting that “the framework has been agreed upon, and the discussion is currently about implementing the details, especially with regard to the exchange of prisoners.”
Blinken expressed his hope that “a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be concluded before the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January,” considering that “if we can reach a ceasefire in Gaza, we can move forward on the path of normalization /according to him/.”
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya had called on the US administration on Thursday, if it wanted to reach a deal, to abandon its blind bias towards Israel and exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government, and oblige them to what was previously agreed upon.
Al-Hayya warned “against falling into the trap set by Netanyahu or being dragged behind his new tricks, conditions and demands, which aim to prolong the war and evade the obligation to reach an agreement.”
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement to the American Fox News network: “There is no agreement soon. Unfortunately, we are not close, but we will do everything to push them to accept an agreement that at the same time allows preventing Iran from rearming Gaza.”
Security officials, the opposition, and the families of prisoners have accused Netanyahu for months of obstructing an agreement with Hamas for fear of collapsing his ruling coalition and losing his position.
The ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have reached
a critical stage, due to Netanyahu’s insistence on continuing the war on the Strip, and not withdrawing from the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes in the center and south of the Strip, while Hamas insists on ending the war, returning the displaced, and withdrawing from the entire Strip.
With the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, and the support of the United States, Israel and Hamas have been conducting faltering indirect negotiations for months to reach an agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency