US waiting for Israel to conclude Rafah op. to continue hostage negotiations
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The United States is waiting for Israel to announce the completion of its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah before proceeding with hostage-ceasefire deal negotiations, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al-Ahkbar reported on Saturday morning.
Talks had hit a snag after Hamas proposed alterations to the Biden administration's multi-phased plan to bring about an end to the war.
According to President Joe Biden, Hamas was the party preventing a deal from coming to fruition.
“The biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar,” the president remarked.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced a position in line with the president's stance on Wednesday, referring to the differences between the proposed plan and Hamas's desired changes as "bridgeable" while also referring to some of the proposed changes as "not workable."
"The Americans are waiting for Israel to announce the end of its military operation in Rafah to resume the currently halted communications regarding the negotiations," the Al-Ahkbar cited Egyptian and Qatari sources as saying.
Previously, in the wake of Hamas's demanded changes to the deal's outline, a senior Israeli official had stated that the Americans, Egyptians, and Qataris had agreed that the current goal is to return Hamas to the original framework.
Tovah Lazaroff and Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.