WASHINGTON DC: The United States and key mediators Egypt and Qatar are intensifying efforts to push Israel and Hamas toward a cease-fire deal to end 10 months of fighting triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Hamas, a U.S. designated terror group, has signaled it won’t attend the latest round of talks scheduled in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Thursday.
“We expect to be told by the mediators that Israel has accepted what is being offered, and any meeting should be based on talking about implementation mechanisms and setting deadlines rather than negotiating something new,” said Hamas political officer Osama Hamdan.
The White House is projecting confidence that the talks will happen.
“There’s always political posturing. We see this all the time in advance of talks, that’s not new,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday during her press briefing.
However, President Joe Biden has admitted that peace is elusive.
“It’s getting hard,” he told reporters Tuesday when asked if a cease-fire and hostage release deal is becoming a more distant possibility.
“We’ll see what Iran does, and we’ll see what happens if there’s any attack,” he said. “But I’m not giving up.”
(VOA)
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