Senior Biden administration representatives are traveling back to the Middle East to promote a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
According to US sources, top Biden administration delegates are visiting the Middle East this week to participate in continuing negotiations over a potential truce and agreement to free Israeli hostages from Hamas, as well as the grave circumstances in the Gazan city of Rafah, CNN said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan reports that CIA Director Bill Burns, who has been the administration's main mediator in ceasefire talks, is meeting with Qatari leaders in Doha to get an update on their discussions with Hamas leaders. In the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Qatar is serving as a mediator.
Sullivan added that although they wait for an official answer from Hamas, the US continues to communicate with the Qataris on an hourly basis.
Aboard Air Force One, Sullivan said reporters, "At this point, we are awaiting a response from Hamas." "A formal response will be understood to be one that reaches the Qataris, who relayed the Israeli negotiators' proposal to Hamas."
This week, Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk is scheduled to visit Cairo, as per an informed source. In the difficult negotiations, Egypt and Qatar have been important mediators.
The timing of McGurk's visit coincides with an increase in hostilities between Egypt and Israel in recent months, mainly due to Egypt's repeated warnings to Israeli forces not to advance with a military assault into Rafah.
An Egyptian security guard was shot and killed by Israeli and Egyptian forces last month near the Gaza border. McGurk's discussions with regional leaders this week would also cover post-war plans and the situation at the Rafah border crossing, the source said.
As of right now, McGurk is not anticipated to visit Israel during this journey.
Even though they both visit the Middle East frequently, President Joe Biden and his administration are making a fierce diplomatic effort to persuade Israel and Hamas to accept the most recent ceasefire plan.
“Since Biden presented the plan in a speech last Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made a flurry of calls, talking with allies about the bold agreement and asking them to put pressure on Hamas to back it."
The senior US diplomat has conferred twice with his counterparts from Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Algeria in addition to the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, he had conversations with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Cabinet member Benny Gantz.
A draft resolution endorsing the idea and urging the UN Security Council to push that Hamas embrace the agreement was circulated by the US on Monday.
In an attempt to bring about peace in Gaza, Biden proposed a three-phase proposal on Friday that would combine the release of hostages with a "full and complete ceasefire." The president referred to it as an Israeli endeavor.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that Israel will not finish the assault in Gaza until it has accomplished all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas, less than an hour after Biden presented the plan.
According to a State Department spokeswoman on Tuesday, the United States has not yet received a response from Hamas regarding the most recent ceasefire offering.
At a press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, "We haven't seen any response from Hamas yet, but we do think it is important that the international community and, Significantly, in my opinion, Arab nations have expressed their desire for this agreement to be completed and for Hamas to acquiesce."
In a statement issued last week, Hamas expressed that it saw the idea "positively." Miller was unsure if Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, had received the proposal itself.
Miller added that the Israeli government has informed the US that, should Hamas accept, they are prepared to carry out the cease-fire agreement.
“It doesn’t mean there aren’t voices inside Israel, and voices even inside the Israeli government are opposed to it, but the government, speaking on behalf of the government, has said they support this proposal and are ready to stand behind that,” Miller said.
