White House sees latest Gaza talks as constructive

WASHINGTON: Talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire have been “constructive,” with some progress made, and all sides need to come together to work toward implementation of a proposed agreement, the White House said on Friday (Aug 23).
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the discussions will continue on Friday with CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk representing the United States.
Kirby said Hamas militants should participate in the negotiations, which on Thursday included negotiators from Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar but not Hamas.
“We’re in Cairo. They’re in Cairo. We need Hamas to participate, and we need to get down to the brass tacks – of locking in these details. And that’s what we’re focused on here in the next, coming days here over the course of the weekend,” Kirby said.
He said early signs in Cairo were that the discussions “have been constructive”, but more talks are planned.
“Things are moving forward,” he said, denying some news reports that the talks were near collapse.