US President Joe Biden urged the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a hostage deal with Israel, reported Reuters.
According to a senior administration official, Biden wrote letters on Friday to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on the state of the hostage talks and urged them to “secure commitments from Hamas to agree and abide by a deal.”
The letters came as CIA Director William Burns is travelling to Cairo to lead the US delegation in a new round of talks this weekend.
In a call Thursday to discuss the hostage negotiations and ceasefire talks in Cairo, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to empower negotiators so that a deal can be reached as soon as possible, said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.
According to the AP, David Barnea, the head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad, and negotiators from Egypt and Qatar are expected to attend, while Hamas will participate indirectly, with proposals conveyed to its leaders in Gaza through third parties.
Under the most recent ceasefire proposal, Israel and Hamas would agree to a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of sick, women and elderly and wounded hostages.
Following Biden’s call with Netanyahu, the White House said in a statement that the US President said that “reaching an immediate ceasefire” in exchange for hostages was “essential”, urging Israel to reach that deal “without delay.”
A US senior administration official said that Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, will meet Monday with family members of the estimated 100 hostages who are still held in Gaza.
According to White House officials, Biden has become increasingly frustrated with Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, which has so far killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
Washington has maintained its support for Israel amid growing domestic and international criticism for Israel’s prosecution of the war. However, the pressure has mounted on Biden since Israel’s recent airstrikes that killed aid workers in Gaza.
