A hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire deal will help de-escalate regional tensions, US President Joe Biden told Qatar and Egypt, the two main mediators for an agreement to secure the release of 115 captives held in Gaza.
The calls with Qatar Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani and Egyptian President Fattah El-Sisi came amid a warning by Iran and its proxy gourd Hezbollah for reprisal attacks against Israel.
Biden, in the calls, addressed “efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal” in his phone conversations with both leaders, the White House said.
Biden and those two leaders agreed on “the urgency of bringing the process to closure as soon as possible.”
Biden described the negotiations “as being in their final stage.”
Netanyahu accused of sabotaging Gaza deal
Fear has been high that the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh last week in Tehran would scuttle the talks. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the killing.
Hamas announced on Tuesday that it would replace Haniyeh with its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Israel has blamed Hamas for the absence of a deal as it has doubled down on its red lines for an agreement, including the IDF’s retention of the strategic Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors.
Netanyahu’s opponents have accused him of inserting new conditions into the deal. Security officials have said he can afford to ease up on some of his demands and others have said he made them knowing that they would scuttle the agreement.
The Prime Minister’s Office has resisted such charges, insisting that Netanyahu wants to make a deal and that every principled point he has made falls within the framework of the three-phased proposal Biden first unveiled on May 31.
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