PNN – US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that the best way to prevent the escalation of tension in northern Israel is to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, saying that reaching a ceasefire in Gaza is in Israel’s interest.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Matthew Miller, the spokesperson of the US State Department, added to the reporters that the recent response of Hamas to the agreement shows the progress of this movement in its positions.
The spokesperson of the US State Department stated: “Achieving a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is in Israel’s interest.”
He stressed: “The best way to prevent the escalation of tensions in northern Israel is to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.”
An American official, whose name has not been disclosed, said in a conversation with the Axios website that progress has been made in the negotiations in Cairo regarding the ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas.
This American media quoted four Israeli and American officials as saying that CIA Director William Burns, also known as Bill Burns, and Brett McGurk, Biden’s senior adviser on Middle East affairs, meet with senior Israeli and Egyptian security officials in Cairo to discuss the Gaza ceasefire agreement, prisoner release and security arrangements. discuss the security of the border between Egypt and Gaza.
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The Axios website wrote about the focus of talks between Israeli and American senior officials in Cairo: Egypt-Gaza border security arrangements and the reopening of the Rafah crossing are key issues ahead of a possible hostage and cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the Israeli regime, claimed on Sunday that one of his conditions for the agreement is that no arms be smuggled to Hamas from the Egypt-Gaza border. Israeli and American officials have said that although this issue is not mentioned in the proposed text of the agreement, they want to find a solution through trilateral cooperation between the United States, Egypt and Israel.
McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, arrived in Cairo on Monday with Bill Burns. A high-ranking Israeli delegation headed by the director of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency also arrived in Cairo on Monday.
Burns and McGurk will hold trilateral talks with the Egyptians and Israelis as well as separate meetings. The two American officials will focus on the agreement on the release of the hostages and the ceasefire, and issues related to the Rafah crossing and Gaza border security.
After the talks in Cairo, McGurk is expected to travel to the occupied territories to meet with Netanyahu and Yoav Galant, the Israeli war minister. Burns will travel to Doha on Wednesday to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnia to discuss the ceasefire agreement.
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian resistance groups launched the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation from Gaza against the positions of the Israeli regime. After November 24, 2023, a four-day temporary ceasefire was established between Israel and Hamas, or the pause for the exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel. This pause or temporary ceasefire lasted for seven days and finally ended on December 1, 2023, and the Israeli regime resumed its attacks against Gaza.
Following Biden’s plan, the resolution proposed by the United States to establish a cease-fire in Gaza and release prisoners was approved with 14 positive votes and one abstention (Russia) and without any dissenting votes at the meeting of the UN Security Council on June 10, 2024.
According to the report of the Palestinian Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip, the number of martyrs in Gaza has reached 38 thousand 243 people and the number of injured people has reached 88 thousand 33 people since October 7, 2023, at the same time as the Al-Aqsa storm operation began.