 "File image of National Security Council spokesman John Kirby")
As the tensions in Gaza escalate, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that the Biden administration believes that the US-proposed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is 90 per cent agreed upon. While he said that both sides are heading closer to a deal, the White House official gave a vague response in regards to what stage the negotiation process is currently at.
“Nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated,” Kirby said during a press briefing on Sunday. However, he maintained that several detailed issues still remain to be resolved, adding that “that’s when things get difficult.”
“You call that optimistic. I call that accurate. That’s how close we believe we are. That’s where we have gotten to. The basic framework of the deal has been agreed to,” Kirby explained. “What we’re talking about now is the implementing details and specifically the exchange of prisoners. And now that calculus is different because of what happened over the weekend,” he said referring to the bodies of six hostages recovered by the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in Gaza.
Not that close
Kirby insisted that there is currently a lot at play right now. “Nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated, and the things that are still in play right now are very, very detailed… issues and that’s when things get difficult,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ lead negotiator told Al Jazeera that the US should “press Israel” for a truce in Gaza. “If the US administration and its President Biden really want to reach a ceasefire and complete a prisoner exchange deal, they must abandon their blind bias towards the Zionist occupation and exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government,” Qatar-based Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement.
Hamas maintained that it still supports the July 2 proposal backed by Biden and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). “We confirm our adherence to what was agreed upon after President Biden-backed proposal at the end of May, and UN Security Council Resolution No 2735, which the movement agreed to on July 2,” al-Hayya averred.
Impact Shorts
View All“We warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu … who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” he added.
With inputs from agencies.