US says looming Gaza cease-fire talks 'important step' amid regional tensions

WASHINGTON

The White House said Wednesday that forthcoming negotiations in the Qatari capital of Doha seeking to broker a long-elusive cease-fire in the besieged Gaza Strip are an "important step."

"This hostage deal, the cease-fire deal, this end of war, will help lower tensions in the region. And so that's what the deal is going to do, and that's what we want to see. The United States is going to be there tomorrow. And we are ready to continue these discussions," spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

"It is critical that we reach a deal. It is important that we do so," she added.

CIA Director Bill Burns, and Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden's senior official for the Middle East, will represent the US at the talks, according to the White House.

Hamas said earlier Thursday it will not join the negotiations.

"The movement will not be part of the upcoming negotiations set to resume on Thursday, whether they take place in Doha or Cairo,” Suhail Hindi, one of the group's senior leaders, told Anadolu.

He said the group has requested a “clear commitment from Israel regarding what was agreed upon on July 2 (based on a US President Joe Biden-backed proposal).”

“If this happens, Hamas is ready to engage in the implementation mechanisms of the agreement,” he added.

On Sunday, Hamas demanded that Gaza cease-fire mediators present a plan to implement a proposal supported by Biden that it agreed upon July 2.

It came after Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators urged Israel and Hamas last week to conclude a cease-fire and hostage release deal with no further delays or excuses.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Indirect talks mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt have failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire and a hostage-prisoner swap because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to accept Hamas’ demand to end the onslaught in Gaza.

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's war in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children. Vast tracts of the coastal territory have been completely leveled amid relentless Israeli bombardment that has left entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble.

Gazans continue to face acute shortages of food, water and medicine due to Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance, as well as the significant curtailment of movement for aid convoys once they enter the Strip.

A total of 1,139 people were killed in the cross-border attack led by Hamas on Oct. 7, which precipitated the current war.