(Reuters)
WASHINGTON/DOHA/CAIRO, Sept 4 – The White House is scrambling to put forward a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas in the coming days, two U.S. officials, two Egyptian security sources and an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The new proposal aims to work out the major sticking points behind a months-long impasse in talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt seeking a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the U.S. officials said.
Much of the deal has been agreed upon, a senior Biden administration official separately told reporters on Wednesday, but negotiators were still trying to hammer out solutions to two main obstacles.
Those are Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi corridor, a buffer zone in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, and the specific individuals who would be included in an exchange of Hamas hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israel, said the administration official, who declined to be identified.
The first U.S. official said a new draft accord could be produced next week or even sooner. “The feeling is the time is up. Don’t be surprised if you see (the revised draft) this weekend,” that official said.
The administration official said Hamas’ killing of six hostages, whose bodies were returned to Israel over the weekend, complicated the effort. “We all feel the urgency,” the administration official said. CIA Director William Burns, the lead U.S. negotiator, heads the small group of senior U.S. officials working on the draft which includes White House coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first U.S. official said.
