Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the goal of US administration is to achieve a deal to reach a humanitarian pause and the release of hostages as soon as possible, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said on February 27.
Addressing a press briefing, Matthew Miller said that the US made significant progress towards an agreement last week when US officials engaged in the region. He noted that the US administration will continue to pursue further progress this week.
Asked about President Joe Biden’s remarks about the goal for a ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Matthew Miller said, “So, our goal is to achieve a deal to reach a humanitarian pause and the release of hostages as soon as possible. Certainly, we’d welcome getting one by this weekend. What I can say about the overall progress is that we made significant progress towards an agreement last week when we had officials from the United States Government engaging in the region. We continue to pursue further progress this week.”
“American officials across the Government continue to be engaged on this question. We are trying to push this deal over the finish line. We do think it’s possible. But as you’ve heard me say before, ultimately some of this comes down to Hamas and whether Hamas is willing to agree to a deal that would provide significant benefits to the Palestinian people that they claim to represent,” Matthew Miller said.
On February 27, Joe Biden said that he hopes there will be a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict by “next Monday.” Speaking at a press gaggle in New York, the US President said that we are close to it but it’s not done yet.
“Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean, the end of the weekend,” Joe Biden said after being asked when a ceasefire might start. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close, it’s not done yet. And my hope is that by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” Joe Biden said.
Further asked about the possibility of achieving the ceasefire by the end of ceasefire, Matthew Miller refused to divulge details regarding the negotiations in public. However, he noted that US officials will continue to hold discussions with their counterparts from Israel and Governments of Qatar and Egypt.
Matthew Miller stressed that the deal is in the interest of Israeli hostages and Palestinian people and reaffirmed US commitment to push for the deal.
Matthew Miller said, “I’m not going to negotiate in public, but there are talks that continue. American officials continue to engage on this and discuss it with our counterparts in the Government of Israel as well as the Governments of Qatar and Egypt. And we continue to push to try to get this deal over the finish line. We think it’s possible.”
“We think we can reach a deal. But ultimately, we would need Hamas to say yes. We would need Hamas to agree to a deal that would allow for the release of hostages which never should have been taken in the first place, that would allow for a temporary ceasefire and allow increased humanitarian assistance to come in. As I said, that is a deal that is not just in the interest of the hostages obviously, it’s not just in the interests of the Government of Israel or the Israeli people. It is a deal that is in the interest of the Palestinian people, so we will continue to push for it because we think it’s in the interest of all parties concerned,” he added.
Matthew Miller said that the US is trying to reach a temporary ceasefire as part of the agreement that would allow them to get the hostages out. He stated that the agreement will also allow the humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza.
Responding to a query about the temporary ceasefire, he said, “I’m not going to negotiate in public and talk about what the contours of a deal might look like, but we certainly are trying to reach a temporary ceasefire as part of this agreement that would allow us to get hostages out and would allow us to get humanitarian assistance. And we would like to see a temporary ceasefire go on long enough to allow all the hostages to get out.”
“Again, without talking about what the contours of any agreement might look like, we want to see a ceasefire go on for as long as it can to get all the hostages out. That said and you’ve heard the Secretary speak to this and heard the President speak to this, our ultimate goal is to end this war as soon as possible and end it in a way that ensures Israel’s security and in a way that puts us on a path towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and that’s the diplomatic route that we continue to pursue.”
Earlier on Monday, CNN reported that Hamas backed off some key demands in the negotiations for a hostage deal and paused the fighting in Gaza after Israel said that its position was “delusional”.
It brought the negotiating parties closer to an initial agreement that could halt the fighting and see a group of Israeli hostages released, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, according to a CNN report.
Following the meeting held in Paris between the US, Egyptian, and Israeli intelligence chiefs and the Qatari Prime Minister, a senior Biden administration official said, “The major obstacles have been resolved in terms of Hamas insisting on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war,” CNN reported. “Hamas’ requirements for the number of Palestinians (prisoners that) would have to be freed have declined,” the official added.
(with inputs from ANI)
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