White House says it is “working hard” to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would allow the release of hostages and a pause in fighting
The White House has said it continues to “work hard” to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to free the hostages and establish a pause in the fighting. “We have not reached an agreement yet, but we continue to work hard to reach it,” said the spokesperson for the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, on the social network Washington Post according to which the agreement had already been reached.
According to the newspaper, the agreement, which consists of six pages, seeks to lead to the release of the hostages in a matter of days, as well as the first pause in the conflict in Gaza. Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper has stated that the parties will stop combat operations for at least five days, while some of those held will be released in groups of 50, with aerial surveillance that will control movements in the area where the attack occurs. release.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, in which Israeli authorities say about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed and about 240 were taken hostage. Relentless Israeli air and ground retaliation has since killed more than 16,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas, which rules the enclave. de facto since 2007.
Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser, has said there may be a “significant pause” in the war if the hostages held by the Islamist group were released. “The increase in humanitarian aid, the increase in fuel and the pause will occur when the hostages are released,” McGurk told a security conference in Bahrain. The release of a large number of hostages would cause “a significant pause … and a massive increase in humanitarian aid,” he stressed.
McGurk explained that Biden had discussed the matter on Friday night with the government of Qatar, a Persian Gulf country that is focusing mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.
This week, Biden declared that he was “slightly hopeful” of reaching a deal to free the hostages, who are believed to include about 10 U.S. citizens. Israel has refused to heed calls for a ceasefire before releasing all those captured by the Islamist militia. (France Presse)
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