Discussions to try to finalize the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal will continue over the coming days, with teams remaining in Cairo to iron out remaining issues, a US official said Sunday.
Talks ended Sunday without a resolution, and with Hamas continuing to publicly suggest it would not agree to a proposal meant to bridge remaining differences. The group has insisted it will only agree to the plan previously backed by US President Joe Biden.
More on the process: On Thursday, the US and Egypt met with Israel to try to narrow remaining gaps and clarify issues in the text of bridging proposal, according to a source familiar with the matter. The US and Egypt met again Friday to discuss and prepare for the high-level talks this weekend.
Yesterday, Qatar and Egypt met with senior representatives of Hamas and went through each paragraph of the proposal in detail to identify any remaining issues or questions to clarify, the source said.
The source did not get into details about the outstanding issues, but CNN has reported that the presence of Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor, a key strip of land along the border with Egypt, is among the key matters still in contention.
