According to the mediator's statement, the United States presented on Friday a proposal “that bridges the gap between the parties and is consistent with the principles that President Biden laid out on May 31.”
The technical team will continue working on implementation details over the next few days, with senior government officials hoping to meet again in Cairo to reach agreement on the terms laid out in Doha.
The statement concluded by quoting the leaders of the United States, Qatar and Egypt as warning that “there is no more time to waste, no more excuses for delay.”
“The way is now open to achieving these results, saving lives, providing relief to the Gaza people and calming regional tensions,” he added.
“I don’t want to jinx anything… We may have something. But we’re not there yet,” Biden later told reporters at the White House.
While this is certainly a positive development, there is still a long way to go before a ceasefire can be agreed upon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office took a more cautious stance than Biden, saying it praised efforts to “persuade Hamas from negotiating to release the hostages.”
“Israel's core principles are well known to the United States and the mediators, and Israel hopes that their pressure will force Hamas to accept the May 27 terms and implement the details of the agreement,” he added.
A senior Hamas official who was not involved in the talks but had contacts with Qatari and Egyptian officials told the BBC: “The information the movement leadership received today on the outcome of the Doha ceasefire conference did not include any commitment to implement the agreements made on 2 July.”
The Phase 1 deal outlined by President Biden, based on Israel’s May 27 proposal, includes a “complete and total ceasefire” lasting six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all manned areas of the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of some hostages, including women, the elderly, the sick and the wounded, for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
The second phase would involve the release of all other living hostages and a “permanent cessation of hostilities.” The third phase would involve the launch of a large-scale reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip and the return of the remains of the dead hostages.
