WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar jointly called on Israel and Hamas to return to stalled talks Tuesday. War in Gaza “There is no more time to waste, and no excuses from either party for further delay,” the two sides said in a joint statement.
“Based on the proposal of the United States and the mediators, Israel will send the negotiating team on August 15 to a location to be determined later in order to finalize the details of implementing the framework agreement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of devastating war in Gaza, have set August 15 for talks either in Doha, Qatar, or Cairo.
A senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the mediators’ efforts, said there were only four or five areas of disagreement on implementation that still needed to be resolved between the opposing sides.
The official cited the timing of the exchange of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and hostages held by Hamas as an example.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar said they had a proposal ready to present at next week’s talks to resolve the remaining issues.
Associated Press correspondent Donna Warder reports on the U.S. and other mediators calling for renewed talks on the war in Gaza.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of dragging his feet on talks to end the war in Gaza, which began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel. Since then, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed about 40,000 people.
There was no immediate response from Hamas to the offer. The killing of its top political leader in Tehran last week has heightened tensions across the region, an escalation that was widely seen as a blow to ceasefire talks. The killing was widely attributed to Israel, though Israel has not commented.
US officials said they believed Hamas was capable of resuming negotiations despite the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was leading the talks on behalf of Hamas, on July 31.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s military chief who is believed to be hiding from the Israeli offensive in underground bunkers under Gaza, has taken over as the movement’s political leader. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Hamas had other representatives besides Haniyeh present at the talks who could take over for the slain official.
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