US vice president reiterates calls for Gaza war ceasefire
Aug 20, 2024
Washington [US], August 20: US Vice President Kamala Harris has reiterated calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Mediators US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing for a breakthrough between Israel and Hamas. Negotiations were postponed on Friday with another high-level meeting scheduled to take place in Cairo before the end of the week.
Harris said the conversations were ongoing.
"We are not giving up, and we are going to continue to work very hard on this," she said.
"We got to get a ceasefire and we got to get those hostages out." On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as negotiations reach a critical stage.
Blinken plans to "continue intensive diplomatic efforts" on the ground in Israel, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in Washington ahead of his departure for Israel.
According to the three mediators, there is a proposal that aims to narrow "the remaining gaps." This is in line with the principles of a peace plan presented by US President Joe Biden at the end of May.
The plan initially provides for a complete and unrestricted ceasefire of six weeks. During this period, a group of hostages held by Hamas would be released. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released.
After that, the fighting would cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released. In a final phase, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would begin.
Source: Qatar Tribune
