US President Joe Biden announced yesterday, Saturday, that a ceasefire is possible “tomorrow” in the war on Gaza if Hamas releases the Israeli prisoners it is holding in the Strip. After Biden avoided delving into this issue on three similar occasions on Friday, he said during a fundraising event held outside Seattle at the home of a former Microsoft executive, that “if Hamas releases the hostages, there will be a ceasefire tomorrow.”

International efforts aimed at reaching an agreement on the exchange of prisoners and stopping the war on the Gaza Strip are still underway from all parties, the latest of which is the attempts aimed at holding a new round of Gaza truce negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, after the failure of the last round in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, which It lasted for two days, in the presence of delegations from the Palestinian resistance, the Israeli occupation government, Egypt, Qatar, and America.

According to Egyptian and Western sources who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Egyptian-Qatari efforts are still continuing around the clock, in an attempt to bridge the gap between positions. On the other hand, the American administration is trying to put pressure on the Israeli side to accept the wording of the proposed agreement approved by the Hamas movement.

On Friday evening, the White House said that face-to-face talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza in exchange for the release of detainees ended without reaching an agreement, but the United States believes that the remaining gaps can still be filled. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “It is clear that we do not have an agreement, and that is very unfortunate.” He said that although the face-to-face meetings have ended, “we are working hard to keep both sides engaged to continue discussions, albeit virtually.”

He added: "We still believe that reaching an agreement is possible." He said that a ceasefire agreement in Gaza would require leadership and moral courage. Kirby also stated that the United States is watching with concern Israeli military operations in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, and wants to reopen the Rafah crossing immediately. This came after the Hamas movement announced that it dealt responsibly and positively with the efforts of the mediators, and showed the necessary flexibility to facilitate reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. She confirmed that for this reason, she agreed to the mediators’ latest proposal. The movement said in a statement, “The occupation army’s attack on Rafah and the occupation of the crossing immediately after Hamas announced its approval of the mediators’ proposal confirms that the occupation is evading reaching an agreement.”

On Thursday evening, the delegations of the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation government left the Egyptian capital, Cairo, without reaching an agreement regarding prisoners and detainees from both sides, leading to a “temporary truce,” after a two-day round of negotiations, in the presence of Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediators. Egyptian and Western diplomatic sources in Cairo told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that there are efforts to resume truce and ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip after a few days in Doha, and revealed that the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, and the director of American intelligence, William Burns, received two calls from Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani called on them to resume negotiations in his country’s capital.

Source: Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed