Biden presses Netanyahu on Gaza deal

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency of sealing a deal for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages, the White House said.

The call between the leaders, in which Vice President Kamala Harris also took part, came after Palestinian health officials reported at least 50 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes over a 24-hour period.
Biden stressed to Netanyahu “the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles,” a White House statement said.

U.S., Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators, who are expected to meet in Cairo this weekend, have for months struggled to bridge differences between Israel and Hamas.

But Israel and Hamas on Wednesday held to their demands.
“Israel will insist on the achievement of all of its objectives for the war, as they have been defined by the Security Cabinet, including that Gaza never again constitutes a security threat to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Denying an Israeli television report, it said Israel had not agreed to drop its demand to maintain troops in the Philadelphi Corridor, the border strip between Gaza and Egypt, an issue that has been a major sticking point.

A Hamas statement said its officials, meeting with the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad about progress in the talks, reiterated key Hamas demands. These include an end to Israel’s Gaza operation, a full Israeli pullout and a deal to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The call between Biden and Netanyahu followed a trip to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with no visible results.

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders in the area of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, where there are hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
The orders, which the military said were needed to clear civilians from what had become “a dangerous combat zone”, were soon followed by tank fire with at least one person killed and several wounded by machine gun fire, medics and residents said, according to press agencies.