U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that Gaza ceasefire-and-hostages-for-terrorist-prisoner talks were making progress.
“The negotiators are bearing down on the details, meaning that we have advanced the discussions to a point where it’s in the nitty-gritty, and that is a positive sign of progress,” Sullivan told reporters in Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
On the Gaza issue, officials from the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Israel met in Doha on Wednesday to follow up on talks that took place in Cairo over the weekend and extended to Monday.
Jerusalem’s delegation—composed of officials from the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet)—had returned on Tuesday from the round of negotiations in Cairo.
The high-level Cairo talks ended on Sunday without a deal, but discussions continued on Monday with lower-level officials to attempt to bridge the remaining gaps.
“In Doha, the delegation is expected to meet with representatives of Egypt, Qatar and the United States who are continuing the negotiations and work with Israel and Hamas,” according to Israel’s Channel 12.
U.S. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk held talks on Tuesday in Doha with senior Qatari leaders ahead of Wednesday’s negotiations, the Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. official.
While American officials have expressed optimism about closing a deal, Hamas has publicly rejected the terms on the table and is accusing the United States of supporting Israeli demands. Egyptian officials have also expressed skepticism.
“At the end of the day, nothing is done until it’s done. And so we’re just going to keep working at this until we finally get the ceasefire-and-hostage deal across the line,” Sullivan said.
