Reuters
An agreement to halt the 14-month-old war in Gaza and free hostages held in the Palestinian enclave could be signed in coming days with talks in Cairo making progress, sources briefed on the meeting said on Tuesday.
The U.S. administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, have made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the talks before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.
“We believe – and the Israelis have said this – that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that, but we also are cautious in our optimism,” White House spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with Fox News.
“We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line.”
The sources said a ceasefire deal could be days away that would stop the fighting and return hostages held by the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Hamas said in a statement a deal was possible if Israel stopped setting new conditions. A Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts said negotiations were serious, with discussions under way about every word.
Sources briefed on the meeting said Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo, but a statement from Netanyahu’s office said he had a meeting on Tuesday with senior military and security officials on Mount Hermon, a strategic plateau just inside Syria.
Separately, his spokesperson messaged Israeli correspondents to say: “The prime minister is not in Cairo.”
Two Egyptian security sources said that Netanyahu was not in Cairo “at this moment” but that a meeting was under way to work through the remaining points, chief among them a Hamas demand for guarantees that any immediate deal would lead to a comprehensive agreement later.
The Egyptian sources said they were making progress and felt that Tuesday night could be decisive in setting the next steps.
Netanyahu had been excused on Tuesday from giving previously scheduled testimony at his corruption trial. He met in Israel on Monday with Adam Boehler, designated by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to be his special envoy for hostage affairs.
At a press conference in Florida on Monday, Trump reiterated his threat that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release its hostages by Jan. 20, the day he takes office.
