U.S. President Joe Biden, pictured on Aug. 1, spoke on Monday to the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. to discuss de-escalating tensions in the Middle East and a ceasefire in Gaza, the White House says.Nathan Howard/Reuters
The U.S. expects Gaza peace talks to move forward as planned, the State Department said on Monday, adding it believes a ceasefire deal remains possible even after Hamas cast doubt on whether it would participate in a Thursday meeting called by mediators.
Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Last week, leaders of the U.S., Egypt and Qatar urged Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, speaking to reporters at a regular news briefing, said the U.S. fully expects talks to continue and it would continue to work with the parties involved, adding that agreement was still possible.
“We fully expect talks to move forward, as they should. All negotiators should return to the table and bring this deal to conclusion,” Patel said.
Patel declined to say if the talks would go ahead without Hamas or whether Washington was working with regional partners to ensure their participation or not.
Mr. Biden spoke on Monday to the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the UK to discuss de-escalating tensions in the Middle East and a ceasefire in Gaza, the White House said.
In a joint statement released by the White House on Monday, the leaders of all five countries said they endorsed a call from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for a renewal of talks for a Gaza ceasefire to conclude a deal as soon as possible.
Mr. Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday.
Monday’s joint statement stressed “there is no further time to lose.” It also expressed support for Israel against any Iranian threat while urging distribution and delivery of aid to Gaza.
There has been an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after the recent killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
“We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place,” the joint statement from the U.S. and its European allies added on Monday.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.