Washington DC [US], August 17: U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said a ceasefire deal in the Middle East is "closer than ever," while noting that "we're not there yet."
"We are closer than we've ever been," Biden said at an event in the Oval Office of the White House, when asked whether a Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached.
The president noted that one of the reasons why he was late for the signing of the proclamation to designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument was that he "was dealing with the ceasefire effort in the Middle East."
"We're not there yet. But we're much, much closer than it was three days ago. So keep your fingers crossed," Biden said.
A joint statement from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar released on Friday said that "over the last 48 hours in Doha, senior officials from our governments have engaged in intensive talks as mediators aiming to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees."
"Working teams will continue technical work over the coming days on the details of implementation, including arrangements to implement the agreement's extensive humanitarian provisions, as well as specifics relating to hostages and detainees," the statement said.
"Senior officials from our governments will reconvene in Cairo before the end of next week with the aim to conclude the deal under the terms put forward today," it added.
Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said Friday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel on Saturday.
Blinken will travel to Israel "to continue intensive diplomatic efforts to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal presented today by the United States, with support from Egypt and Qatar," Patel said in a statement.
The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7 has surpassed 40,000, Gaza-based health authorities confirmed on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua