US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing talks for a ceasefire in Gaza and stressed the “immediate need” for a truce, as well as the return of detained Israeli captives in the Palestinian enclave.
Sunday’s call comes as Biden pushes to reach an agreement to end the fighting before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
Negotiations, conducted last year under mediation by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, have repeatedly stalled despite appearing close to an agreement. Yet in recent days, U.S. officials have expressed hope of reaching an agreement.
The latest round is taking place in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, as well as Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, both present at the talks.
Barnea’s presence, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, means that senior Israeli officials who would have to sign any deal are now involved in the negotiations.
McGurk is working on the final details of a text that will be presented to both sides, Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” But he added that he could not predict whether a deal could be reached by Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.
“We are very, very close,” he said. “But being very close still means we are far away, because until you cross the finish line, we are not there.”
The White House said the ongoing negotiations in Doha are aimed at reaching an agreement based on the gradual ceasefire announced by Biden in May last year, which was later unanimously approved by the Council of United Nations security.
Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of hostages with an increase in humanitarian aid made possible by a cessation of fighting under the agreement,” the House said White.
For his part, Netanyahu thanked Biden for his long-standing support of Israel, according to the White House statement. The Israeli Prime Minister previously indicated that he was only committing to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which provides for the release of certain prisoners in exchange for a pause in fighting for several weeks.
Hamas, however, has insisted on the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the largely devastated territory, but Netanyahu remains determined to destroy the group’s ability to fight in Gaza.
Issues discussed during the talks included which captives would be released in the first part of a gradual ceasefire agreement, which Palestinian prisoners would be freed and the extent of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the centers. population of Gaza.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut, speaking from Jordan, said the Israeli negotiating team in Qatar is expected to stay in the country for at least another day “to iron out the final details of a potential deal.”
She noted that the Israelis and Hamas shared responsibility for the delay in reaching a deal, while there is disagreement within Netanyahu’s coalition over a ceasefire.
“Members of the far right have said they will vote against it and Netanyahu has even spoken to members of the far right, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to try to warm them up to the idea of a deal “, she said. “There is a school of thought in Israel that Netanyahu has prolonged the war and has not agreed to a deal because he fears it will lead to the collapse of his government. Nonetheless, these talks continue as mediators struggle to reach an agreement.”
These talks come as Israel continues its incessant bombing of the Gaza Strip, particularly the north of the enclave, which has been under brutal siege for more than 100 days. Medical sources in Gaza say 5,000 people have been killed or missing due to the ongoing attacks.
The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and displaced more than 90 percent of the territory’s population from their homes. This brutal war, which some UN experts call a “genocide”, began the day after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Palestinian fighters killed 1,200 people and captured some 250 others.
Only one brief ceasefire has been concluded in 15 months of war, from the first weeks of fighting.
