The White House said on Friday that ceasefire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue over the weekend as the U.S. and Mideast allies continue to press Israel and Hamas to forge an agreement.

CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the U.S. side of negotiations that began on Thursday amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain forces in two strategic corridors in Gaza.

“There has been progress made,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “We need now for both sides to come together and work towards implementation.”

Kirby did not detail where progress had been made, but he did insist that there’s been momentum in the conversations among the mediators from the U.S., Israel and Hamas’ interlocutors Egypt and Qatar.

Biden took a break from his family vacation in Santa Ynez Valley, California, on Friday to call Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss developments in the negotiations.

Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of leaders of the militant Hamas and Hezbollah groups, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.

Israel and Hamas have been at loggerheads over the Philadelphi corridor alongside Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim east-west corridor across the territory. Hamas is demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Netanyahu insists on the principle that Israel will control the Philadelphi corridor, with the aim of preventing the rearming of Hamas and a repeat of the atrocities of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. He also denied reports that Israel would be willing to accept an international force in the corridor.

Hamas on Friday pushed back that Netanyahu was “blocking any chance to reach a ceasefire deal.”

El-Sisi in his call with Biden stressed the importance of Israel and Hamas “showing flexibility to complete the agreement” to “spare the region the scourge of expanding the conflict,” according to an Egyptian government statement.

Asked whether Netanyahu was negotiating in good faith, Kirby noted that Biden had a “constructive” conversation on Wednesday with Netanyahu.

“We’re in Cairo. They’re in Cairo,” Kirby said. “We need Hamas to participate. We need to get down to the brass tacks of locking in these details. And that’s what we’re focused on here.”

The war began with the Oct. 7 attack as Hamas and other militants stormed Israel, killing around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting around 250. The Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians.

Biden last week said he was “optimistic” that an agreement could be reached after he spoke by phone with the Egyptian president and Qatar’s emir. That conversation came after a round of negotiations in Doha that White House officials said showed promise that a deal was close.

But by Tuesday, Biden was notably more muted about the prospects of the two sides coming to an agreement soon. He told reporters after delivering an address at the Democratic convention that “Hamas was now backing off,” but that the U.S. is “going to keep pushing” to land a cease-fire deal.

Biden in a Wednesday call with Netanyahu “stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure,” according to the White House.

Biden also made clear to Netanyahu that both Hamas and Israel will need to compromise, according to a person familiar with the leaders’ call who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the private conversation.

Meanwhile, the families of the Israeli hostages said they met with Netanyahu on Friday “to understand what could still be more important than freeing their loved ones,” venting their anger at his failure to seal a cease-fire deal that would lead to their loved ones’ release from Hamas captivity.

Representatives from the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages, said Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to do everything in his power to bring their family members back alive. More than 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, including dozens who are presumed dead.

“The word ‘alive’ limits this to a certain time frame,” said Yizhar Lifshitz, son of hostage Oded Lifshitz, whose mother was kidnapped and freed by Hamas last October. The revelation on Thursday that the autopsies of six captives — which Israeli troops recovered from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza — were riddled with bullet wounds has escalated domestic pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire that might save captives’ lives.

Ella Ben Ami, daughter of hostage Israeli Ohad Ben Ami, said she left her meeting with Netanyahu “with a heavy and difficult feeling that this isn’t going to happen soon, and I fear for my father’s life, for the girls who are there, and for everyone.”

A banner hung by junior doctors at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in protest against the alleged sexual assault and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the hospital, in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: PTI

R.G. Kar hostels deserted; mob violence has instilled fear in us, say MBBS students

On a day the Supreme Court ordered deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital here, where a doctor was raped and murdered on August 9, the college’s hostels bore a deserted look with woman students and doctors having left the premises after the midnight violence on August 15.

Health Ministry announces series of measures to provide additional security to healthcare employees at workplace

Despite orders by the Union Health Ministry directing its institutes to put in place additional measures to provide security to healthcare employees at workplace, resident doctors from several parts of the country on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) maintained that they will continue with suspension of services from all elective areas including OPD, elective OT, ward services and lab services on Wednesday.

Centre says Meghalaya polio case is vaccine-derived

A case of vaccine-derived polio has been confirmed in a two-year-old child from Tikrikilla in Meghalaya. A senior official from the Union Health Ministry official emphasised on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) that this is not a case of wild polio, but an infection that presents in some people with low immunity.

West Bengal govt. to engage retired police, Army officers to guard healthcare facilities

With the Supreme Court directing the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to provide security to the doctors at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the West Bengal government on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) issued an order to engage retired police and Army officers as security officials in State-run health facilities.

Mallikarjun Kharge terms Modi government ‘minority’, calls BJP ‘poisonous’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge launched a trenchant attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government stating that the current dispensation is a ‘minority’ government that heavily relies on the support of allies, particularly Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).

Chandrayaan 4 and 5 design complete; 70 satellites likely to be launched in 5 years: ISRO chief

ISRO chairman S Somanath said the space agency has completed the design for the next round of moon missions — Chandrayaan 4 and 5 — and is in the process of seeking government approval for the same.

Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan, Kiran Choudhary from Haryana among nine BJP nominees for Rajya Sabha bypolls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced nine candidates for bypolls to the Rajya Sabha, to be held on September 3, fielding Union Ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively, and former Congress leader Kiran Choudhary from Haryana.

In Sri Lanka, two candidates promise to abolish executive presidency

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s September 21 presidential election, two leading aspirants have promised to abolish the executive presidency, reviving a familiar pre-poll pledge that many political leaders have made in the past, but none has kept.

India, Japan hold ‘2+2’ dialogue with focus on Indo-Pacific

The India-Japan partnership is set against a larger context of a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific and it will continue to grow, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday as the two sides held a fresh edition of “2+2” dialogue amid China’s increasing military muscle-flexing in the region.

Blinken visits Egypt, Qatar in pursuit of Gaza ceasefire deal but Hamas and Israel signal challenges

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar as he pressed ahead on Tuesday with the latest diplomatic mission to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain.

ICC moves Women’s T20 World Cup from strife-hit Bangladesh to UAE

The ICC moved the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup from Bangladesh to the UAE, saying it “wasn’t feasible” to conduct the event there after governments of a number of participating countries advised against travelling to the unrest-hit nation

Smoke and flames rise following an Israeli strike on a residential building, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday that a new proposal meant to bridge the gaps between Israel and the Islamist armed group over a Gaza ceasefire were too close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent positions.

Hamas’ statement came only hours after U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel in a bid to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, dimming hopes for an imminent breakthrough in negotiations.

Hamas received the new proposal from mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, following a two-day round of talks in Doha.

It said that the new proposal was aligned with Netanyahu, who refuses to end the war and withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, including from the border with Egypt, two conditions the group sees as the basis for any agreement.

“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts, delaying the agreement, and for the lives of his prisoners who are exposed to the same danger as our people due to his ongoing aggression and systematic targeting of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip,” said Hamas.

“We call on the mediators to assume their responsibilities and compel the occupation to implement what was agreed upon,” Hamas said, adding that it was fully committed to the previous July proposal.

Rafah, Palestinian Territories:

Hamas on Friday said it “considers positively” an Israeli roadmap towards a full Gaza ceasefire announced by US President Joe Biden, who urged an end to the almost eight-month war.

But swiftly afterwards, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poured cold water on Biden’s talk of peace, insisting the army would continue fighting until it had “eliminated” Hamas’s capacity to rule Gaza and pose a military threat.

Biden’s address came as Israeli troops pushed into central Rafah, escalating the war with Hamas despite international objections to any assault on the southern Gaza city.

Outlining how the war might end, Biden said Israel’s three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.

It would also see the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for (the) release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners”.

Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate during those six weeks for a lasting ceasefire — but the truce would continue while the talks remained underway, Biden said.

The US president urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer. “It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” he said, in comments echoed by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

Hamas in a statement on Friday evening said it “considers positively” Biden’s speech regarding “a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres “strongly hopes” the latest development “will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the Israeli offer “provides a glimpse of hope and a possible path out of the war’s deadlock”, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed a “balanced and realistic” approach to end the bloodshed.

– Israel insists on war aims –

But Netanyahu took issue with Biden’s presentation of what was on the table, insisting the transition from one stage to the next in the proposed roadmap was “conditional” and crafted to allow Israel to maintain its war aims.

“The prime minister authorised the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving (the return of hostages), while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Those aims include “the return of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities”, it added.

“The exact outline proposed by Israel, including the conditional transition from stage to stage, allows Israel to maintain these principles.”

Hamas has been careful about commenting on ceasefire proposals put to it by Egyptian, Qatari or US mediators. It accepted one earlier this year only for it to be disavowed by Israel.

Earlier on Friday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel of “using negotiations as a cover to continue its aggression”, saying Hamas “refuses to be a part of these manoeuvres”.

Israel has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7.

Israel sent tanks and troops into Rafah in early May, ignoring concerns over the safety of displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city on the Egyptian border.

On Friday, soldiers were operating in the city centre where they uncovered rocket launchers and tunnel shafts and dismantled a Hamas weapons storage facility, the army said.

– Blinken says aid situation ‘dire’ –

A stream of civilians has flooded out of Rafah, taking their belongings on their shoulders, in cars or on donkey-drawn carts.

Before the Rafah offensive began, the United Nations said up to 1.4 million people were sheltering in the city.

Since then, one million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said.

The Israeli seizure of the Rafah crossing has further slowed sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza’s 2.4 million people and effectively shuttered the territory’s main exit point.

Israel said at the weekend that aid deliveries had been stepped up.

But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged Friday that the humanitarian situation was “dire” despite US efforts to bring in more assistance.

The World Food Programme said daily life had become “apocalyptic” in parts of southern Gaza since Israel began its assault on Rafah in early May.

Jordan announced it will host a summit on June 11, jointly organised with Egypt and the United Nations, bringing together aid agency chiefs and heads of donor governments to discuss the humanitarian response.

– ‘Everything is ashes’ –

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,284 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

A medical official at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah said eight people, including two children, were killed in an air strike that hit a house in Al-Bureij refugee camp.

Another source at Nuseirat’s Al-Awda Hospital reported three deaths in a strike on a car.

In northern Gaza, witnesses said that after carrying out a three-week operation in the town of Jabalia and its neighbouring refugee camp, troops had ordered residents of nearby Beit Hanoun to evacuate ahead of an imminent assault.

The Israeli army said troops “completed their mission in eastern Jabalia and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip”.

Jabalia shopkeeper Belal al-Kahlot said there was nothing left of his store after the Israeli operation. “Everything is ashes.”

The Israeli military announced the deaths of two soldiers in Gaza, taking to 294 the number of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in late October.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

A full ceasefire in Gaza would only help Hamas as Israel wages an air campaign against the militant group, but humanitarian “pauses” should be considered to let vital aid in, the White House said Tuesday.

The comments came as President Joe Biden said aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave, under Israeli bombardment since the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7, were “not fast enough.”

“A ceasefire right now really only benefits Hamas,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.

Thousands of people have been killed on both sides since Hamas attacked across the border, executing civilians and seizing hostages, with Israel retaliating with relentless strikes on the Gaza Strip.

UN chief Antonio Guterres earlier Tuesday urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as European Union leaders were considering a call for a pause in the fighting.

Kirby said that while Washington opposed a full ceasefire, stoppages in the fighting to facilitate the delivery of aid was “something that ought to be considered.”

“We want to see all measure of protection for civilians and pauses in an operation is a tool and a tactic that can do that for temporary periods of time,” he said.

“It’s not the same as saying a ceasefire.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier asked the UN Security Council to support a new US-led resolution on the conflict that would back “humanitarian pauses” to let in aid but not a full ceasefire.

Biden said Monday that “talk” about any ceasefire could only start once all of the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas in the attack were released. 

Kirby meanwhile warned that while the United States had urged Israel to minimize civilian casualties, some were inevitable.

“This is war. It is combat. It is bloody, ugly and it’s going to be messy and innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward,” Kirby said.

“I wish I could tell you something different and wish that there wasn’t going to happen, but it is going to happen. And that doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make it dismissible.”

Israel was left stunned and furious by the bloody attack on southern communities in which it says Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and took the hostages, including some Americans.

Israel has responded with heavy air and artillery strikes that have killed 5,791 in Gaza, according to the Hamas-ruled health ministry, and plunged the Palestinian territory into a dire humanitarian crisis.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)