Officials to gather in Cairo for Gaza talks 'before end of week': White House

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Officials will gather in the Egyptian capital Cairo for negotiations to reach a Gaza cease-fire deal this week, the White House said Monday.

"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 US’s "ironclad commitment" to Israel's security and also 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 US, Egypt and Qatar announced last week following cease-fire 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 cease-fire 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).”

Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack that claimed some 1,200 lives. Israeli actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.