Earlier this week, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the two sides were closer to an agreement than ever before and Hamas revealed a day later that negotiations were taking place seriously and actively.
The US administration is stepping up efforts to reach an agreement before President Joe Biden leaves office next month. Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns arrived in Doha (Qatar) on December 18 to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to resolve remaining disagreements between Hamas and Israel.
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The White House and the US State Department are both cautiously optimistic because in the past they came close to an agreement but eventually collapsed. “Everything the US can do is push and try to find compromise but we cannot force the parties to make choices. They must make their own decisions,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
According to the Palestinian health authority, the 14-month conflict has killed more than 45,000 people in the Gaza Strip and pushed nearly all residents of the strip into homelessness. Israel believes that there are 96 hostages still being held in Gaza, of whom at least 34 have died.
Israeli forces near the Gaza border on December 16
