U.S. and Israeli officials have resumed cease-fire talks with Hamas, expressing renewed optimism. Hamas has revised its position and Netanyahu has stated that he is sending a new delegation of negotiators to the talks. One White House official called the new progress “a breakthrough” in the negotiations. While Israeli officials agreed that progress had been made, they are more cautious. The current negotiations are based upon Biden’s three-stage cease-fire framework released in late May and endorsed by the United Nations. While gaps between Hamas’ position and the position of the U.S. and Israel still exist, there is now more room to move forward with the talks. The biggest point of tension in the talks lies upon how the war will end. Hamas wants guarantees that the war will end and all Israeli forces will withdraw. However, Israel has promised to fight until Hamas is completely destroyed.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-cease-fire-proposal.html