The White House said on Friday evening that the responsibility for reaching an agreement in Gaza lies with both parties.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the meeting on the Gaza ceasefire would be held on August 15 in Doha or Cairo, adding that "Qatar has assured us that it will work to have Hamas represented in the negotiations."

He considered that the indications of the Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, that the Gaza war could last forever are "completely wrong." He also considered that "the opinions of the Israeli Finance Minister are likely to cause the loss of the lives of Israeli and American prisoners."

Kirby described Smotrich's claims that a ceasefire agreement would be a surrender to Hamas as "completely false." He added that Smotrich was misleading the Israeli public.

The White House stressed that US President Joe Biden "will not allow extremists, including Israelis, to derail the Gaza talks."