Washington says it is close to a ceasefire in Gaza

Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds Agence France-Presse U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about a ceasefire deal in Gaza, August 16, 2024.

Agence France-Presse

Published and updated on August 16

• Middle East

Washington stepped up efforts Friday to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to travel to Israel this weekend to bridge remaining stalemates for an agreement.

Blinken leaves Saturday and will seek “to reach an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages and prisoners through the compromise proposal” presented by the United States Friday during talks in Doha, the State Department said.

“We've never been closer” to an agreement, President Joe Biden assured on the sidelines of a ceremony at the White House.

“We're not there,” he acknowledged, but a compromise is “much closer than it was three days ago.”

The White House also specified that the American president had spoken with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, about the progress made in Doha.

After two days of “constructive” negotiations held in a “positive atmosphere,” the talks will resume next week in Cairo, the United States, Qatar and Egypt announced in a statement. “Senior officials from our governments are due to meet in Cairo before the end of next week with the aim of concluding an agreement,” the statement said.

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“The path is now clear for such an outcome to save lives, relieve the population of Gaza and reduce regional tensions,” the three countries said.

Washington submitted a new compromise proposal on Friday, supported by Egypt and Qatar, to “fill the remaining gaps” that concern the “implementation” of an agreement by Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, according to the White House.

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This American proposal is based on a road map presented by President Biden at the end of May, which provides for several phases for the cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack in southern Israel.

Washington recently pushed, with Egypt and Qatar, for a resumption of talks on a truce in Gaza because it believes that a ceasefire could prevent an attack by Iran against Israel, which Tehran has threatened with “severe punishment” in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital at the end of July, attributed to Israel.

On Friday, in a statement that seemed to target Iran in particular, Joe Biden urged all actors in the Middle East “not to undermine” the efforts underway to Doha because a ceasefire agreement was “in sight”.

The human toll of the war has exceeded 40,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas government's health ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed.

It was launched by Israel after the unprecedented attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the death of 1,198 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.