Washington: Gaza ceasefire talks will resume next week in Cairo after the United States offered a “bridging proposal” to Israel and Hamas in Doha to seal a deal, the White House said Friday.
“This proposal builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal,” said a White House statement signed by co-mediators Qatar and Egypt.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in Beirut Friday that a Gaza ceasefire was the "key" to preventing the region from slipping into all-out war.
His visit comes after Gaza ceasefire talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, restarted in Doha on Thursday, and follows trips to Beirut this week by US envoy Amos Hochstein and French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.
Cairo, Doha and Washington are making every effort to quickly reach a Gaza deal "that leads to an immediate ceasefire, an end to the killing of civilians, and a prisoner and hostage exchange", Abdelatty said after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib.
"This is the key to the start of the solution in this region and the start of de-escalation," he said.
