U.S. sees ‘end game’ in Gaza ceasefire talks

“We are closer than we’ve ever been,” President Biden said today. “We’re not there yet. But we’re much, much closer than it was three days ago.”

President Biden said mediators are “closer than we’ve ever been before” on reaching a Gaza ceasefire deal that would free Israeli hostages held by Hamas, after two days of talks in Doha, Qatar. A senior U.S. administration official said the United States, Egypt and Qatar believe they are in the “end game” after the U.S. put forward what he called a “final bridging proposal” text in Doha today.

The parties are due to meet again by the end of the week in Cairo, following a visit to Israel starting Sunday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Meantime, technical teams will continue to work in Cairo and Doha to establish an “implementation cell” to work out remaining details on issues like the sequencing of the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and cleaning up the rubble and restoring electricity in Gaza.

“We are closer than we’ve ever been,” President Biden said upon arriving at an event late after separate calls with his counterparts from fellow mediator nations, Qatar and Egypt.

“We’re not there yet,” Biden said. “But we’re much, much closer than it was three days ago. So keep your fingers crossed.”

President Biden spoke separately with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi today “to review the significant progress made in Doha over two days of talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savitt said.

“I think there was a consensus between all three leaders that this process…is now in the end game,” the senior U.S. administration official, speaking on background, told reporters.

“The leaders talked about a final bridging proposal that the United States put on the table today… here in Qatar, with the full support of Egypt and Qatar as mediators, and we will be reconvening in Cairo at this level before the end of next week, with an aim to close out this process once and for all.”

“The two days here in Doha probably were the most constructive 48 hours that we've had in this process in many months,” the senior U.S. official said.

The Israeli negotiating team in Doha, led by Mossad Director David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and IDF hostage negotiator Niztan Alon, was “clearly empowered,” the U.S. official said. “We made a lot of progress in the number of issues that we've been working on.”

The U.S. delegation to the Doha talks included CIA Director Bill Burns and NSC Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk.

“Towards the end of today, we put down a final bridging proposal…which the three of us collectively believe basically bridge nearly all of the remaining gaps that have been under discussion for, really, the last six weeks,” the U.S. official said.

“In Cairo before the end of next week, we will gather again at this level with an aim to conclude this,” the U.S. official said. “That is the goal.”

“I want to be very clear, this is a very difficult, complex deal,” the official said. “It is wrenching, because this is about getting hostages out of Gaza. There are elements of the deal that are uncomfortable, just like any deal like this. It is far from perfect.”

Imperative to save lives of hostages over tinkering to get perfect deal

The official said the U.S. feels a sense of urgency to finalize the deal to save the lives of the hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7.

“We aim to conclude this deal,” the U.S. official said. “We want to save the lives of the hostages and get the hostages out of Gaza. And if you continue to negotiate for months and months and try to get a perfect deal or every last drop of blood from the stone, you risk having no hostages left to save. And that is not acceptable to us.”

“We’re going to do all we can to bring this to conclusion, because the lives of the hostages really can't wait anymore,” he said. “So we do believe it's time to bring it to the conclusion. We're going to work to do that over the course of the next week.”

On Iran

“We have deployed the military resources to the region that are needed for every possible contingency,” the U.S. official said, both in amassing additional military force in the region to defend Israel and US personnel, and intensive diplomacy urging de-escalation.

“Iran claims to those that they are speaking with…that they want to see a ceasefire in Gaza, that that is their goal,” the U.S. official said. “That very much remains to be seen. But now it's an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.”

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